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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 

Lewis  F.  Langfeld 


^LETTERS 


A    BROTHER, 


OI¥    PRACTICAL    SUBJECTS. 


By  a  Clergyman. 


LOWELL: 

PUBLISHED  BY  BROOKS  SHATTUCK  AND  CO., 

No.  2  Suffolk  Square. 

BOSfON: — PEIRCE    AND    PARKER, 

No.  9  Cornhill. 

1832. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year 

1832,  by  BROOKS  SHATTUCK  &Co.,  in  the  Clerk's 

Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


Observer  Press.... Lowell. 


U 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  following  letters  were  commenced 
with  the  design  of  explaining  some  of  the 
simple  truths  of  the  Gospel  to  the  mind  of 
a  younger  brother  in  the  hope  that  they 
might  be  of  essential  service  to  him  in  a 
practical  respect. 

It  has  since  been  a  matter  of  serious 
inquiry  with  me,  whether  the  minds  of  the 
young  have  been  sufficiently  instructed 
and  enlightened  on  the  subjects  embra- 
ced in  the  letters.  The  result  of  my  in- 
quiries is,  a  firm  conviction  that,  while  the 
world  abounds  with  story  books  and  with 


M890812 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

toys  for  children,  there  are  very  few  reli- 
gious works  of  a  thorough,  practical  kind. 
A  knowledge  of  this  fact  has  induced  me 
to  throw  these  letters,  in  a  printed  form, 
before  the  public,  with  the  hope  that  they 
may  influence  some  youthful  minds  to  em- 
brace cordially  the  religion  of  the  Saviour. 
The  plan  is,  in  many  respects,  new,  and 
the  truths  contained  in  the  letters  are  pre- 
sented singly  that  the  mind  may  distinct- 
ly apprehend  one  truth  before  it  under- 
takes to  grapple  with  another.  It  is  be- 
lieved that,  in  this  way,  more  vivid  im- 
pressions of  duty  will  be  received  than  in 
any  other  way.  The  exhibition  of  sever- 
al important  and  fundamental  truths  in 
a  single  letter  would  confuse  the  mind  so 
that  it  would  be  able  to  distinguish  no  one 
truth  clearly.  The  colors  of  the  solar 
ray  cannot  be  distinguished  when  com- 
mingled, but  when  separated  by  the  prism 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

each  can  be  distinguished  from  every 
other. 

The  doctrinal  views  contained  in  this 
little  volume,  are,  I  believe,  accordant 
with  the  views  of  evangelical  Christians 
generally.  I  have  studied  to  make  my 
directions  and  explanations  conform  to  the 
word  of  God.  The  letters  were  not  writ- 
ten for  criticism,  but  for  practical  use. 

It  may  be  said  that  many  of  the  illus- 
trations, contained  in  this  work,  are  too 
difficult  to  be  understood  by  those  for 
whose  particular  use  it  has  been  published. 
In  reply,  I  have  only  to  say  to  the  indi- 
vidual who  thinks  so,  place  these  letters 
in  the  hands  of  any  intelligent  child  of 
twelve  years,  and  when  he  has  finished  the 
reading  of  it,  question  him  in  regard  to 
the  meaning  of  the  several  parts  of  it,  and 
you  will  find  that  you  have  mistaken  the 
power  of  a  child's  intellect. 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

Most  youths  of  from  ten  years  old  and 
upwards  will  understand  all  in  these  let- 
ters that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  know 
in  order  to  secure  their  object. 

Let  parents  give  a  copy  of  this  work  .to 
each  of  their  children  with  the  prayer  that 
it  may  awaken  their  attention  and  be  ac- 
companied by  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  that  it  may  result  in  their  con- 
version to  God. 

Hitherto  the  souls  of  the  young  have 
been  too  much  neglected.  It  has  been 
too  generally  thought  that  efforts  for  the 
conversion  of  children  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  fourteen  years,  are  useless  and 
hopeless.  The  times  are  changed,  and  the 
feelings  of  Christians  have  changed  with 
them.  The  importance  and  success  of 
efforts  made  in  behalf  of  children  of  the 
ages  above  mentioned,  can  n€>  longer  be 
doubted. 


INTRODUCTION.  Vii 

The  influence  of  the  examples  of  JVo- 
than  W.  Dickerman  and  John  Mooney  Mead, 
has  been  powerfully  felt  and  will  be  till 
the  end  of  time.  It  has  excited  parents  to 
greater  faithfulness  and  will  result,  proba- 
bly, in  the  future  salvation  of  thousands  of 
children  and  youth. 

That  this  work  may  help  the  efforts  of 
Christians  to  instruct  the  young,  and  to 
unfold  the  truths  of  the  gospel  to  them, 
is  my  earnest  prayer ! 

To  all  impenitent  sinners,  of  whatever 
age  or  attainments,  this  little  book  may 
afford  instruction.  The  way  of  reconcil- 
iation with  God  is,  I  believe,  truly  and 
faithfuly  traced ;  and  the  consequences  of 
a  neglect  to  embrace  the  religion  of  Jesus 
are  honestly  set  forth.  If  any,  who  are 
now  delaying  -to  make  preparation  for 
heaven,  and  are  "treasuring  up  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath,"  shall  be  indu- 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

ced,  by  these  humble  efforts,  to  repent  of 
their  sins  and  to  turn  unto  the  Lord,  the 
author  will  have  occasion  to  bless  God 
that  he  has  not  labored  in  vain. 
Lowell,  Dec.  20,  1832. 


LETTER    I. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Your  long  residence  in  my  family  has 
interested  me  much  in  your  welfare,  spir- 
itual and  eternal.  And  I  know  of  no  bet- 
ter way  to  express  that  interest  than  to 
spend  what  leisure  moments  I  can  com- 
mand in  writing  down  some  thoughts 
which  may  be  of  special  use  to  you  in  your 
future  life. 

My  object  is  not  now  to  make  rules  for 
the  regulation  of  life,  but  to  dwell  upon 
some  points  of  great  practical  importance 
— to  elucidate  and  enforce  some  subjects 
in  which  you  ought  to  feel  yourself  par- 
ticularly interested. 

In  this  letter  I  wish  to  make  you  feel 
yourself  entirely  destitute  of  love  to  God — 


10  LETTERS  TO 

in  other  words,  that  you  are  completely  un- 
der the  dominion  of  sin.  I  say  you,  be- 
cause, from  your  own  confession,  your 
heart  is  still  in  a  state  of  nature — having 
experienced  no  change  from  sin  to  holi- 
ness. 

It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  adduce  many 
passages  of  Scripture  to  prove  that  the 
heart  of  every  man  is  entirely  under  sub- 
jection to  sin,  unless  it  has  been  renova- 
ted in  the  manner  which  I  shall  describe 
in  another  letter.  But  as  one  passage, 
the  meaning  of  which  is  well  ascertained, 
is  as  good  as  a  thousand,  because  it  is  the 
truth  of  God,  I  shall  spare  you  the  trouble 
of  examining  many. 

When  David  exclaimed,  "  Behold  I  was 
shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my 
mother  conceive  me,"  (Ps.  51: 5)  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  he  intended  to  express 
the  native  depravity  of  his  heart.  And 
when  the  prophet,  Jeremiah,  said  "  The 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and 
desperately  wicked,"  (Jer.  17:9.)  it  is 
very  plain  that  he  meant  to  affirm  the  ut- 


A  BROTHER.  11 

ter  depravity  of  mankind  in  a  state  of  un- 
regeneracy.  But  the  passage  which  I 
wish  you  to  observe  more  particularly,  is 
John  3:  3,  where  Christ  says,  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  Now  if  a  man  natu- 
rally has  any  holiness  in  his  heart,  Christ 
would  not  have  made  such  a  requisition. 
For  the  change,  which  he  demands,  as 
necessary  to  salvation,  is  one  from  sin  to 
holiness.  The  holiness,  which  supervenes 
upon  regeneration,  is  indeed  partial,  but 
is  capable  of  growth — expansion — and  it 
does  so  expand  till  it  becomes  perfect  in 
heaven.  Why  then  may  not  the  holiness, 
which  we  have  supposed  to  exist  in  the 
heart,  by  nature,  grow  and  expand  till  it 
becomes  perfect  *?  And  then  may  not  a 
perfectly  holy  being  be  admitted  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ?  You  see,  therefore, 
that  the  requisition  of  a  new  heart  in  or- 
der to  salvation,  would  be  unmeaning  if 
that,  which  is  to  be  obtained  by  a  new 
heart,  exists  already  in  the  sinner.  The 
Scripture  argument  is,  therefore,  clear,  and 


12  LETTERS  TO 

the  evidence  conclusive  that  people,  in  a 
state  of  nature,  are  entirely  destitute  of  holi- 
ness— completely  under  the  power  of  sin. 
You  will  see  also  much  evidence  of  cor- 
ruption of  heart  in  unregenerate  men,  in 
their  conduct.  From  the  first  periods  of 
their  moral  existence  they  pursue  after  the 
world  and  seek  not  after  God.  In  the  ex- 
pressive language  of  David,  "They  go 
astray  as  soon  as  they  be  born,"  (Psalm 
58:  3.)  You  cannot  find  one  instance  of 
obedience  to  God  in  children  whose 
hearts  are  in  a  state  of  nature.  Indeed, 
such  is  the  universal  corruption  of  the  hu- 
man heart,  that  we  do  not,  in  any  case, 
expect  the  exhibition  of  holiness.  Who, 
among  your  playmates,  is,  and  has  been, 
from  his  infancy,  devoted  to  God'?  Do 
you  know  of  any  one  who,  unless  convert- 
ed by  the  Spirit  of  God,  loves  to  pray  and 
talk  about  religion  and  thinks  more  about 
God  than  about  any  thing  else  *?  And  why 
can  you  not  find  such  an  one  ?  Because 
no  one  exists  who  possesses  such  a  char- 
acter. 


A  BROTHER.  13 

But  perhaps  you  will  say  that  many  of 
your  associates  are  amiable — that  they  are 
kind  to  each  other — obedient  to  their  pa- 
rents— and  do  no  outward  acts  of  wicked- 
ness. I  believe  fully  this  statement.  But 
all  these  amiable  traits  of  character  may 
and  do  often  exist  without  any  holiness  in 
the  heart. 

Suppose  now,  that  a  parent  should  say 
to  his  child,  "  If  you  will  love  me  and  do 
all  that  I  tell  you  to  do,  and  give  me  an 
account  every  day  of  what  you  have  been 
doing  during  the  day,  and  ask  my  forgive- 
ness when  you  have  done  wrong,  I  will 
give  you,  when  you  are  twenty  years  old, 
all  I  possess,  which  amounts  to  many 
thousand  dollars.  But  if  you  do  not  obey 
me  in  these  particulars,  you  must  look  out 
for  your  support  from  some  other  quarter, 
for  I  shall  not  give  you  one  cent  of  my 
property." 

The  child  rejoices  at  the  prospect  of  the 

happiness  which  he  believes  just  before 

him.     He  expects  to  obtain  possession  of 

his  father's  large  estates.      But,  in  the 

2 


14  LETTERS  TO 

mean  time,  a  thousand  childish  sports  oc- 
cupy his  mind.  He  feels  under  obliga- 
tion to  his  father,  but  cannot  bear  the  re- 
straints imposed  upon  him.  He  thinks 
more  of  his  associates  and  of  his  play  than 
he  thinks  of  his  parent.  By  degrees  he 
neglects  to  go  to  him  daily  with  an  ac- 
count of  his  conduct — disobeys  every  com- 
mand which  relates  to  his  duty  to  his  fa- 
ther and  loves  him  only  as  he  supplies  his 
wants  and  as  he  expects  from  him  a  rich 
inheritance.  Still  he  loves  every  body 
else — deals  justly  with  all — is  kind  to  his 
companions — beloved  by  every  one  that 
knows  him.  Twenty  years  of  his  life  are 
at  length  passed,  and  his  father  calls  him 
to  his  presence,  in  order  to  reckon  with 
him.  The  son  comes  with  some  misgiv- 
ings, it  is  true,  but  confirmed  in  the  ex- 
pectation of  his  father's  possessions  by  the 
thought  that  his  kindness  to  others  amply 
compensated  for  his  want  of  obedience  to 
his  father.  How  is  he  astonished,  then, 
to  hear  from  the  paternal  lips,  "  Thou 
canst  have  no  part  in  my  possessions.  I 


A  BROTHER.  15 

had  fondly  hoped  that  the  motives  to  obe- 
dience would  have  been  sufficient  to  in- 
duce thee  to  submit  to  my  commands,  but 
as  they  have  failed  to  do  it,  I  disinherit 
thee  forever !" 

"  But,"  says  the  disobedient  son,  "  Have 
I  not,  by  rny  conduct  towards  others,  gain- 
ed their  esteem  and  love  *?  Have  I  not 
aided  the  helpless — relieved  the  distressed 
— had  compassion  on  the  poor — which 
you  have  always  allowed  to  be  right  and 
which  every  body  loves  me  for  *?" 

"Yes,  my  son,  you  have  done  all  this, 
and  this  was  right.  But  where  have  you 
exhibited  your  love  for  him  who  bare  you 
and  supported  you  and  promised  you  vast 
wealth  on  condition  of  your  obedience  to 
him'?  Had  I  no  claims  to  your  regard6? 
Must  you  neglect  the  only  being  on  earth 
to  whom  you  owe  most  *?  And  then  will 
you  expect  to  be  rewarded  by  the  very  in- 
dividual towards  whom  you  have  shown 
no  respect  at  all  ?  Go  from  my  presence  ! 
For,  though  I  weep  over  your  disgrace, 


16  LETTERS  TO 

justice  will  not  permit  me  to  alleviate  your 
wretchedness !" 

Do  you  not  perceive,  now,  that  all  the 
kindness  and  love  of  that  child  to  others 
was,  in  fact,  no  evidence  that  he  loved  his 
father  ?  Was  not  his  heart,  so  far  as  his 
father  was  concerned,  entirely  destitute  of 
love  ?  You  must  acknowledge  it. 

Now  this  illustration  will  show  you 
what  I  mean  when  I  say  that  all  acts  of 
benevolence  and  kindness — the  posses- 
sion of  the  most  amiable  qualities  of  hu- 
man nature — are  not  evidences  of  true 
love  to  God.  They  do  not  prove  that  the 
heart  is  not  entirely  destitute  of  holiness. 
We  know  that  there  are  many  who  pos- 
sess all  these  traits  of  character  who  are 
yet  opposed — bitterly  opposed  to  the  true 
character  of  God.  If  a  person  has  not 
love  to  God — if  his  soul  does  not  swell 
with  gratitude  to  Him  for  all  he  has  done 
to  save  his  soul — rely  upon  it,  he  is  under 
the  complete  dominion  of  sin — he  is  entirely 
depraved. 


A  BROTHER.  17 

I  hope,  my  dear  brother,  that  you  are, 
by  this  time,  convinced  that  mankind,  in 
a  state  of  nature,  are  utterly  destitute  of 
the  love  of  God  or  completely  depraved. 
And  if  so,  I  know  you  will  not  try  to  es- 
cape from  the  inevitable  conclusion  to 
which  I  am  brought,  that  you  are  living 
without  holiness  and  without  God  in  the 
world !  The  solemn  truth  that  you  are,  in 
heart,  utterly  destitute  of  affection  for  the 
only  Being  in  the  universe  who  ought  to 
command  your  supreme  love,  should  lead 
you  to  feel  your  guilt.  You  stand  in  a 
relation  to  God  at  once  dangerous  and 
alarming.  It  is  on  His  arm  that  you  must 
lean  for  the  support  of  your  natural  life. 
If  he  removes  his  sustaining  hand,  your 
soul  will  escape  from  its  mortal  tenement 
and  go  away  alone  into  eternity.  And 
have  you  no  fears  respecting  the  final  is- 
sue of  your  apostacy  *?  Have  you  no  fear 
of  that  God  whom  you  have  never  loved 
and  towards  whom  you  have  not  a  single 
right  affection  *?  Reflect  upon  your  situa- 
tion as  you  close  this  letter — a  creature 
2* 


18  LETTERS  TO 

of  God — sustained  and  blessed  in  a  thou- 
sand ways  by  Him — yet  perfectly  void  of 
love  to  Him — nay,  evidently  opposed  to 
His  character  and  laws.  It  may  do  you 
good,  thus  to  look  at  your  true  character 
in  the  light  m  which  heaven  looks  upon 
it.  It  may  prepare  you  to  appreciate,  in 
a  measure,  the  reasonableness  of  God's  an- 
ger towards  all  those  who  are  in  your  sit- 
uation. That  God  is  thus  offended  with 
all  unregenerate  men  will  be  the  subject 
of  my  next  letter.  Commending  you  to 
the  grace  of  God,  I  remain,  as  ever, 
Your  affectionate  brother, 


A  BROTHER.  ID 


LETTER   II. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

In  my  last  letter  I  attempted  to  show 
you  the  strange  position  which  you  hold 
in  relation  to  God.  If,  on  the  review  of 
your  past  life,  you  are  convinced  of  the 
fact  that  your  heart  is  totally  void  of  love 
to  God — completely  depraved,  you  are 
prepared  to  hear,  without  surprise,  that 
you  are  in  a  state  of  condemnation — exposed 
to  the  wrath  of  God. 

The  language  of  God's  law  is  stern  and 
unyielding,  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that 
continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them." 
(Gal.  3:  10.)  "The  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die.  (Ezek.  18:  4.)  Now  these  are 
plain  passages  and  you  will  perceive,  by 
them,  that  the  curse  rests  upon  you  who 


20  LETTERS  TO 

have  broken  the  law  ten  thousand  times. 
.There  is  a  verse  in  the  New  Testament 
which  confirms  this  fact,  "He  that  be- 
lieveth  not  is  condemned  already"  I  will 
add  only  one  other  passage,  but  it  is  an 
awfully  impressive  one,  "  God  is  angry 
with  the  wicked  every  day."  (Ps.  7:  11.) 

The  evidence  from  the  Bible  is,  there- 
fore, conclusive,  that  Jehovah  regards  you 
as  justly  the  object  of  his  wrath.  And 
you  must  be  sensible,  my  brother,  that 
you  deserve  the  infliction  of  the  severest 
punishment  for  your  guilt.  Why  should 
not  God  feel  displeased  with  one  who  has 
spent  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  continued 
apostacy  and  impenitence'?  One  sin  is 
enough  to  lay  you  under  the  curse  of  the 
law,  for,  "Cursed  is  every  one  that  con- 
tinueth  not  in  all  things,"  &c.  Now,  then, 
if  you  had  committed  but  one  sin  and  had 
lived,  the  rest  of  your  life,  in  perfect  obe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  God,  you  would 
not  be  able  to  claim  acquittance  from  the 
curse.  How  could  you  make  reparation 
for  that  one  sin*}  Suppose  you  should 


A  BROTHER.  21 

break  some  important  law  of  your  coun- 
try to  which  is  attached  the  penalty  of  im- 
prisonment for  life.  Would  your  past 
good  conduct  or  your  future  perfect  ad- 
herence to  the  laws  of  the  country  atone 
for  that  one  failure  ?  You  ought  to  have 
failed  in  no  one  point ;  and,  having  fail- 
ed, you  cannot  live  so  perfectly  as  to  make 
up  for  that  failure. 

A  king  once  made  a  law  that  no  one 
should  pass  the  limits  between  his  and 
his  enemy's  country  on  the  penalty  of  per- 
petual banishment  to  a  far  distant  land. 
From  this  penalty  there  should  be  no  re- 
prieve. It  chanced,  that  one  of  his  best 
and  most  useful  subjects,  in  a  moment  of 
thoughtlessness,  and  in  the  heat  of  the 
chase,  pursued  a  deer  into  the  borders  of 
the  enemy.  The  matter  is  reported  to  the 
king.  With  a  heavy  heart  he  calls  the 
culprit  into  his  presence,  and  says,  "You, 
like  others,  are  amenable  to  the  laws  of 
the  empire  and,  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
those  laws,  you  have  broken  the  one  to 
which  the  penalty  of  banishment  is  affix- 


22  LETTERS  TO 

ed.  You  must  submit  to  your  punishment. 
To-morrow,  you  are  to  leave  my  realms 
forever  !"  What  can  the  offender  say  to 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  *?  Does  he 
plead  that  his  whole  conduct  previously 
had  been  unexceptionable — that  he  had 
never  before  been  in  fault  ?  The  fact  is 
admitted — but  the  stability  of  the  throne 
would  be  destroyed,  if  pardon  should  be 
granted  contrary  to  the  express  previous 
declaration  that  there  should  be  no  re- 
prieve. 

So,  if  you  had  committed  but  a  single 
sin  during  your  whole  life — that  would 
not  secure  you  from  the  execution  of  the 
appalling  sentence,  "  The  soul  that  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die."  The  sentence  of  death 
would  still  be  on  the  records  of  God 
against  you — to  be  accomplished  in  God's 
own  time. 

But,  my  dear  brother,  if  the  wrath  of 
God  lies  on  you  for  a  single  sin — how  great 
that  wrath  increased  as  it  is  by  the  con- 
tinued guilt  of  many  years  !  All  your  sins 
are  laid  up  with  God  and  will  be  publish- 


A  BROTHER.  23 

ed  to  the  world  at  the  judgment  day.  How 
solemn  the  thought  that  even  now,  while 
I  am  penning  this  letter,  your  soul  is  con- 
demned to  everlasting  woe !  That  is  ter- 
rific language,  "  He  that  believeth  not  is 
condemned  ALREADY  !"  (John  3:  18.) 

No  new  sentence  is  to  be  pronounced 
upon  you — that  which  is  upon  you  now  is 
to  be  executed.  That  is  all.  While  you 
are  engaged  in  your  sinful  pastimes  and 
follies,  remember,  I  entreat  you,  that  you 
are  a  living  monument  of  wrath — that  you 
are.  now  enjoying  a  respite  from  punish- 
ment similar  to  that  of  the  prisoner  whose 
days  are  numbered  and  the  time  of  whose 
execution  is  fixed.  The  sentence  of  death 
has  been  passed  upon  him,  but  the  time 
for  its  accomplishment  is  delayed. 

God  has  uttered  the  sentence  of  death 
eternal  upon  you,  and  it  is  through  his 
forbearance  that  you  have  not  experien- 
ced the  commencement  of  its  execution. 
But  your  days  are  all  numbered.  Your 
respite  from  the  awful  penalty  of  your  sin 
will  soon  be  ended.  Death  will  termi- 


24  LETTERS  TO 

nate  it.  Unless,  before  that  time,  you  find 
a  remedy  for  which  the  law  does  not  pro- 
vide, you  will  feel  forever  the  wrath  of 
God  upon  your  immortal  soul ! 

You  may,  indeed,  think  that  God  is  toa 
strict  in  maintaining  His  law  with  such  un- 
bending firmness  and  with  such  unyield- 
ing severity.  But  how  otherwise  could 
He  sustain,  in  dependance  upon  Him  and 
in  unbroken  order,  the  millions  of  intelli- 
gent beings  upon  His  footstool  ^  If  He 
should  permit  a  law  to  be  broken  with  im- 
punity to  which  He  had  attached  a  specific 
and  certain  penalty,  what  confusion — what 
anarchy  would  ensue  !  There  would  be  no 
obedience,  if  disobedience  should  go  un- 
punished; especially,  after  God  had  af- 
firmed that  it  should  be  punished  without 
failure.  And  do  you  suppose  that,  in  or- 
der to  secure  the  happiness  of  a  few 
wretched  and  sinful  persons,  God  will  per- 
mit His  wide  dominions  to  be  coursed  by 
treachery,  anarchy  and  ruin  *?  Never. 
Though  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  His 
words  shall  never  pass  away.  His  threat- 


A  BROTHER  25 

ening  against  the  sinner  will  never  be  re- 
called, even  though  eternity  is  the  term  of 
the  punishment. 

You  see,  therefore,  my  dear  brother, 
that  the  curse  of  God,  that  remains  upon 
you,  is  a  fearful  thing.  And  what  ren- 
ders the  fact  still  more  serious  is,  that  it 
rests  upon  you  justly.  It  is  for  sin  that 
you  are  condemned — not  for  a  few  errors 
which  could  not  be  foreseen  or  averted.  It 
is  not  for  the  guilt  of  one  day  or  of  one 
week  or  of  one  year,  but  for  the  depravity 
of  a  whole  life  that  you  are  soon  to  suffer 
the  execution  of  a  most  dreadful  punish- 
ment, unless  it  is  averted  in  some  way  of 
which  the  law  knows  nothing. 

Nor  is  your  case  a  solitary  one.  You 
are  surrounded  with  youthful  companions, 
nearly  all  of  whom  are,  doubtless,  exposed 
to  the  same  "wrath  which  impends  over 
you.  For  they  are  sinners — without  the 
love  of  God  in  their  hearts — entirely  des- 
titute of  holiness.  God  is  angry  with  all 
such.  And  they  are  all  equally  exposed 
to  the  dreadful  penalty  of  a  broken  law. 
3 


26  LETTERS  TO 

Will  you  not  read  to  them  this  letter  and 
try  to  show  them  that  it  is  best  for  them 
to  look  into  their  condition  and  to  see  the 
worst  of  their  case  °l  It  will  not  alleviate 
your  miseries  to  know  that  others  are  alike 
suffering  the  punishment  of  their  sins. 
It  will,  on  the  contrary,  enhance  your 
wretchedness,  as  you  will  see  by  a  mo- 
ment's consideration. 

Suppose  that  you  should  be  attacked 
with  some  dreadful  disease  that  should 
render  you  wretched  and  hopeless,  would 
it  be  any  relief  to  you  to  know  that  many 
of  your  associates  are  in  the  same  condi- 
tion ?  Would  it  comfort  you  to  see  one  af- 
ter another  brought  into  the  same  room 
with  you,  all  writhing  in  the  extremity  of 
their  anguish  *?  O  no !  it  would  surely 
give  keenness  to  the  edge  of  your  own 
sorrows.  Especially  would  this  be  the 
case,  if  your  conduct  or  your  wickedness 
were  the  guilty  cause  of  their  sickness  and 
their  pain. 

The  guilt  of  many  of  your  young  friends 
may  have  been  greatly  encreased  through 


A  BROTHER.  27 

your  wicked  example.  Your  evil  influence 
may  have  led  them  on — may  have  encour- 
aged them  to  continue  in  sin,  till  they  are 
more  wicked  and  guilty  by  far  than  they 
would  otherwise  have  been.  Of  course 
their  misery — the  wrath  of  God  which  is 
on  them — will  be  indefinitely  increased 
by  your  means.  Will  you  be  comforted, 
then,  when  you  are  meeting  the  execution 
of  the  awful  penalty  due  to  sin,  by  seeing 
those,  who  have  been  thus  sustained  by 
your  example  in  sin,  take  their  places  by 
your  side  in  the  world  of  despair  9  Will 
not  the  very  sight  of  your  injured  compan- 
ions bring  additional  anguish  to  your  bo- 
soms •?  That  will  be  an  agonized  reflec- 
tion, "  them  I  have  helped  to  ruin  for- 
ever !" 

Seek  not,  therefore,  to  brace  yourself 
up  in  impenitence  by  the  thought,  that 
many  others  are  in  the  same  case  with 
yourself,  and  will  share,  if  you  perish, 
your  punishment.  Let  the  solemn  facts, 
which  I  have  stated  in  this  letter,  bear  up- 
on your  mind  with  their  proper  force. 


28  LETTERS  TO 

You  must  confess  the  justice  of  God  in 
uttering  the  sentence  of  death  upon  you. 
Your  own  heart  will,  doubtless,  acknow- 
ledge its  guilt.  You  are  convinced  that  no 
love  to  God  has  ever  swelled  your  bosom. 
It  cannot  be  wrong,  then,  for  God  to  pour 
out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  one  who, 
acknowhdgedly,  has  filled  up  his  life  with 
sin.  Your  condition  is  o-ne  of  immense 
hazard.  Oh,  forget  not  that  the  execution 
of  the  tremendous  penalty  of  the  law  de- 
lays, only  till  death  shall  hurry  your  soul 
into  eternity !  Think  what  must  then  be 
the  desolation — the  woe — the  everlasting 
woe — that  shall  come  over  you !  I  leave 
you  to  your  own  thoughts  and  pray  God 
that  you  may  deeply  realize  the  justice  of 
the  doom  which  hangs  over  you. 
I  am  with  many  prayers  for  your  welfare, 
Your  affectionate  brother, 


A  BROTHER.  29 


LETTER   III. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

I  trust  you  have  weighed  well  the  re- 
marks which  I  made  in  my  last  letter  res- 
pecting your  condition  as  a  sinner  expos- 
ed to  the  severest  displeasure  of  a  holy 
God.  The  subject  of  my  present  com- 
munication will  have  suggested  itself, 
doubtless,  to  your  mind  before  this.  It 
must  have  occurred  to  you  with  great 
force,  that  it  is  a  duty  you  owe  to  God  and 
to  yourself  to  repent  immediately  of  your  sins. 

The  duty  of  repentance  results  princi- 
pally from  your  relation  to  God.  He  is 
your  Creator.  It  is  His  arm  that  has  ever 
sustained  you  in  existence,  and  upon  which 
you  must  depend  for  your  future  support. 
You  have  freely  refused  to  give  Him  the 
love  which  was  His  due.  You  have  un- 


30  LETTERS  TO 

reasonably  and  voluntarily  disobeyed  Him. 
There  was  no  compulsion  used — no  force 
— no  deception  by  God.  Your  sins  were 
all  the  result  of  your  perfect  freedom,  else 
they  would  not  have  been  rightly  called 
sins.  There  can  be  no  guilt  which  has 
not  been  contracted  in  the  free  exercise 
of  a  free  mind. 

You  can,  therefore,  plead  no  excuse  for 
living,  as  you  have  done,  in  the  neglect  of 
God's  laws  and  in  opposition  to  His  ex- 
pressed will.  You  are,  probably,  sensible 
that  all  excuses  of  this  kind  are  vain  and 
will  not  be  accepted  by  Jehovah — nay, 
that  they  cannot  be  accepted  by  Him  with- 
out a  forfeiture  of  his  noblest  attributes. 

The  duty  of  repentance  would  seem  to 
be  a  given  point  which  need  not  be  dis- 
cussed. If  you  have  disobeyed  God  who, 
by  creation,  has  a  perfect  right  to  com- 
mand you  and  to  enforce  obedience,  what 
can  be  more  called  for  than  immediate  re- 
pentance ? 

A  father  tells  his  son  to  remain  at 
home  during  his  absence  which  would 


A  BROTHER.  31 

continue  till  night.  As  soon  as  his  fath- 
er is  gone,  the  son  says  to  himself,  "  It 
will  never  be  discovered  if  I  take  my  gun 
arid  spend  the  afternoon  in  hunting."  He, 
accordingly,  follows  the  bent  of  his  incli- 
nations and  returns  at  an  early  hour.  But 
his  conscience  troubles  him.  He  feels  that 
he  has  done  wrong — that  he  ought  not  to 
have  disobeyed  his  father's  command. 
He  considers  that  his  father  has  a  perfect 
right  to  command  him  and  that  he  has 
treated  him  very  unkindly  in  return  for  all 
the  goodness  which  he  had  received  from 
him.  He  goes  to  him,  as  soon  as  he  re- 
turns, and,  with  an  appearance  which 
shows  him  sincere,  confesses  his  sin  and 
begs  his  father's  forgiveness.  Here  was 
repentance.  And  what  could  be  more  nat- 
ural than  that  such  a  course  should  be 
pursued  by  the  son  who  was  thoroughly 
convinced  that  he  had  sinned  and  exposed 
himself  to  the  just  punishment  which  his 
father  might  see  fit  to  inflict?  Would 
not  an  increase  of  guilt  have  been  con- 


32  LETTERS  TO 

traded,  if  the  repentance  had  not  been 
exercised  9 

Do  you  not  see  then,  my  dear  brother, 
that  it  is  your  indispensable  duty  to  turn 
from  your  sins — to  repent  at  once  of  your 
iniquity  *?  You  have  broken  the  commands 
of  a  kind  parent.  I  have  tried  to  show 
you  your  guilt  in  so  doing.  Ought  you 
not,  therefore,  to  repent  sincerely  and  go 
to  God  whom  you  have  offended  and  plead 
for  pardon  ?  If  you  do  not  pursue  this 
course  your  sins  will  be  increased — your 
guilt  rendered  immensely  greater. 

Nor  will  it  be  enough  for  you  to  grieve 
that  you  have  sinned,  simply  because  there 
is  a  retribution  coming — because  eternal 
misery  is  threatened.  This  is  to  be  sorry, 
not  for  sin  as  committed  against  a  kind 
and  merciful  God,  but  for  the  results  of 
sin — for  the  impending  punishment*  Sup- 
pose the  son,  above  mentioned,  had,  on 
returning  from  his  hunting  excursion,  re- 
flected upon  the  punishment  which  his 
father  had  threatened  in  case  of  disobe- 


A  BROTHER.  33 

dience  and,  simply  in  view  of  that,  had  re- 
gretted that  he  did  not  stay  at  home, 
would  such  regret  be  sincere  repentance  ? 
Would  it  have  been  all  that  the  sin  of  dis- 
obedience called  for  °l  No.  He  ought  to 
have  been  sorry  that  he  had  not  regarded 
his  father  with  more  affection  than  to  be 
willing  to  disobey  him. 

So,  if  you  feel  aright  in  reference  to 
your  sin,  you  will  be  sorry  that  you  have 
offended  God  by  it — that  you  have  not 
more  regarded  his  commands  which  are 
all  right — holy  and  good.  To  repent  be- 
cause you  have  done  something  for  which 
you  expect  punishment,  is  not  true  peni- 
tence. The  feeling  of  your  heart  should 
be,  "  I  have  sinned  against  my  Creator 
and  Preserver  and  it  grieves  me  to  think 
how  I  have  abused  his  love." 

But  perhaps  you  will  ask,  "  Will  my  re- 
pentance secure  God's  blessing  *?  Will  He 
pardon  my  sins  if  I  repent  of  them  ?  In 
other  words,  shall  I  be  reinstated  into  His 
favour  ?" 

And  what  has  your  duty  to  do,  my  broth- 


34  LETTERS  TO 

er,  with  the  negative  or  affirmative  answer 
to  such  questions  *?  Does  not  your  duty, 
in  regard  to  repentance  for  your  voluntary 
sin  against  God,  remain  the  same  whether 
you  are  ever  to  receive  or  expect  forgive- 
ness or  not  9  Does  the  fact,  that  God  re- 
fuses to  pardon  your  guilt,  change  the  na- 
ture of  that  guilt  <?  Is  not  its  enormity 
the  same  ? — its  demerits,  are  they  not  pre- 
cisely the  same  ? 

In  the  case  supposed,  if  the  son  had 
been  convinced  that  he  had  done  wrong 
in  breaking  the  command  of  a  kind  and 
indulgent  father,  and  yet  was  doubtful 
whether  he  should  repent  or  not,  because 
he  was  in  doubt  as  to  his  father's  forgive- 
ness of  his  disobedience,  he  would  have 
exhibited  a  heart  totally  unfit  to  receive 
the  blessing  of  forgiveness.  If  his  feel- 
ings were  such  as  they  should  have  been, 
he  would  have  been  melted  into  contri- 
tion in  view  of  his  sin,  not  in  view  of  his 
father's  forgiveness  of  that  sin.  Nay,  I  go 
further,  and  affirm  that  his  obligations  to 
repent  would  have  been  the  same,  if  he 


A  BROTHER.  35 

had  known  that  he  should  not  receive  his 
father's  pardon.  His  duty  could  not  have 
been  affected  by  any  course  pursued  by 
his  father. 

You  will  see  then,  my  dear  brother,  that 
the  inquiry  of  a  sinner  against  God  should 
not  be,  "  will  He  forgive  me  if  I  repent  ?" 
Such  a  question  ought  not  to  be  agitated 
by  him.  It  is  his  duty  to  be  broken- 
hearted for  sin,  whatever  God's  course  in 
relation  to  him  may  be.  Even  if  he  could 
know,  to  a  certainty,  that  for  the  sins  he 
has  committed  God  would  cast  him  off  for- 
ever, his  duty  would  be  the  same.  He  has 
done  wrong — he  ought  to  be  sorry  for  it. 
He  could  not  do  less  than  this,  were  it  an 
enemy  whom  he  had  wrongfully  offended. 

Your  duty,  therefore,  is  clear  and  expli- 
cit. You  owe  it  to  God,  whom  you  have 
offended,  to  repent  and  turn  from  your  evil 
way.  Whatever  becomes  of  you- — wheth- 
er God  pardons  your  sins  or  executes  the 
sentence  of  death  upon  you  in  its  fullest 
extent — you  have  wronged  him  in  a  thou- 
sand ways  and  you  ought  to  be  sorry—*- 


36  LETTERS  TO 

sincerely,  heartily,  sorry  for  it.  If  you  are 
not,  it  exhibits  an  alarming  hardness  of 
heart  and  a  stupidity  of  soul  to  the  demer- 
its of  sin  truly  affecting. 

But  I  stated,  at  the  commencement  of 
this  letter,  not  only  that  you  owed  it  to 
God  to  repent  of  your  sins,  but  that  you 
owed  it  to  yourself. 

There  is  a  conscience  in  man  which  is 
rarely  so  seared  as  to  be  entirely  unsus- 
ceptible to  excitement.  It  is  a  monitor 
appointed  by  God  over  human  thoughts 
and  actions.  Now,  whenever  you  do 
wrong,  you  doubtless  feel  a  conviction  of 
guilt  that  troubles  you.  And  as  you  are 
continually  engaged  in  sin,  your  mind  is 
continually  agitated  with  fears  and  is  the 
prey  of  remorse.  Now,  why  is  this,  if  not 
to  show  you  the  necessity  of  feeling  your 
guilt  so  as  to  lead  you  to  repentance  ?  Re- 
pentance of  sin  will  be  to  you  a  relief.  It 
will  take  from  your  mind  a  heavy  bur-den. 
You  will,  at  least,  not  be  chargeable  with 
the  guilt  of  impenitence.  You  will  show 
that  you  are  not,  at  least,  indifferent  to 


A  BROTHER.  37 

your  sins.  You  owe  it  to  yourself  to  re- 
pent. 

I  must  illustrate  what  I  have  now  said 
by  one  more  reference  to  the  undutiful 
Son.  Suppose  the  Son  had  hardened  his 
heart  and  felt  no  penitence  for  his  sin  of 
disobedience  and  had  concealed  the  truth 
from  his  Father  when  he  returned,  would 
he  not  have  been  much  more  unhappy 
than  if  he  had  repented  of  it  and  confes- 
sed it  to  his  Father  *?  And  if  he  had  neg- 
lected to  confess  it  for  several  days  and 
then  had  come  to  the  resolution  of  doing 
it  and  executed  his  resolution,  would  not 
a  heavy  weight  have  been  thrown  off  his 
mind? 

Thus  you  will  find  great  relief,  if  you 
are  sorry  for  your  sins  and  if  (as  is  impli- 
ed in  repentance)  you  confess  them  to 
God  and  beg  his  forgiveness. 

I  hope  that  you  are  already  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  the  statements  I  have  now 
made.  Your  mind  will  yield,  I  am  per- 
suaded, to  the  firm  conviction  that  you 
need  to  repent  of  your  sins — that  your  du- 
4 


38  LETTERS  TO 

ty  to  God,  whom  you  have  injured  and  to 
yourself,  requires  it.  Look  directly  at 
your  duty.  You  have  done  wrong..  Ask 
no  questions  in  regard  to  the  result  of 
your  repentance.  Be  assured  that,  what- 
ever be  your  destiny  hereafter,  you  cannot 
turn  too  soon  from  the  evil  of  your  ways. 
You  cannot  be  too  sensible  to  your  guilt 
in  the  sight  of  God — or  too  broken-heart- 
ed in  view  of  it.  It  is  true,  the  sentence 
of  wrath  is  gone  forth  against  you — you 
are  under  the  curse,  and  the  arm  of  jus- 
tice is  lifted  to  destroy  you  forever ;  and 
the  question,  how  you  shall  find  a  refuge 
from  that  wrath,  is  an  important  question. 
But  your  first  business  is  to  feel  your 
guilt — to  be  humbled  under  a  sense  of  it 
— and  to  repent  of  it,  with  the  resolution 
to  forsake  it  forever.  This  is  your  solemn 
duty — your  first  duty.  You  cannot  delay 
the  work  a  single  day  without  incurring 
great  guilt  in  addition  to  that  already  laid 
up  in  the  remembrance  of  God  against 
you.  Will  you  not,  my  brother,  attend 
to  the  claims  of  God  upon  your  repent- 


A  BROTHER.  39 

ance  immediately.  Be  assured,  it  will  ease 
your  own  mind  of  a  heavy  burden.  And 
even  if  it  does  not,  the  claim  ought  to 
be  met  and  that  without  delay.  You  may 
expect  to  hear  from  me  again  soon. 
Your  affectionate  brother, 


40  LETTERS  TO 


LETTER   IV. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

In  my  last  letter,  I  endeavored  to  con- 
vince you  that  it  is  your  duty  to  repent, 
simply  because  you  have  done  wrong — 
because  your  conduct  has  been  rebellious 
against  God.  I  hope  you  have  repented 
— that,  upon  the  conviction  of  your  guilt, 
you  saw  your  duty  and  fulfilled  it.  I  hope, 
however,  that  your  repentance  is  not 
grounded  on  the  supposition  that  it  will 
purchase  pardon,  for,  then,  your  repentance 
is  not  genuine.  True  repentance  is,  as  I 
have  already  shown  you,  sorrow  for  sin, 
not  for  its  results. 

And  my  object  in  this  communication 
is  to  show  the  utter  inefficacy  of  repentance 
to  atone  for  sins  in  reference  to  which  it  is  ex- 
ercised. 


A  BROTHER.  41 

You  need  not  be  startled  at  an  asser- 
tion which  renders  the  sinner's  case  so  ap- 
parently hopeless,  nor  need  you  exclaim, 
"  who  then  can  be  saved  V9  (Matt.  19: 25.) 
I  am  not  now  bound  to  answer  such  a 
question.  It  does  not  belong  to  the  top- 
ic of  this  letter.  My  present  object  is 
simply  to  prove  or  substantiate  the  fact, 
that  repentance  cannot  clear  you  from  guilt. 
No  matter  what  startling  inferences  are 
drawn  from  it.  The  truth  is  still  the  same 
and  it  must  be  submitted  to. 

An  atonement  for  sin  cannot  be  made 
unless  an  equivalent  is  paid  for  the  debt 
which  has  been  contracted.  Now,  on 
your  own  acknowledgement,  and  as  I  have 
shown  in  a  previous  letter,  you  have  bro- 
ken God's  law — not  once  or  twice — but  a 
thousand  times.  And  the  penalty,  attach- 
ed to  the  law  for  transgression,  is  eternal 
death.  Suppose,  then,  upon  considera- 
tion, that  you  feel  deeply  sensible  of  the 
guilt  of  your  conduct  and  come  to  God 
with  a  penitent  confession  of  your  sin, 
will  such  penitence  be  an  equivalent  for 


42  LETTERS  TO 

the  debt?  You  have,  if  I  may  so  speak, 
borrowed,  or,  more  correctly,  taken  of  God 
the  affections  of  a  whole  life  and  devoted 
them  to  sin.  How  shall  these  affections 
be  regained  by  God  ?  What  remuneration 
can  you  make  ?  You  cannot  pay  Him 
surely  by  living  a  more  holy  life  hence- 
forth, for  that  is  your  duty  without  taking 
into  the  account  the  past.  It  would  have 
been  your  duty  thus  to  live  if  you  had 
never  laid  yourself  under  additional  obli- 
gations by  sin.  Nor  will  the  most  sincere 
regret — the  most  hearty  sorrow  for  your 
life  of  sin,  cancel  your  debt  to  God.  Does 
such  sorrow  affect  a  positive  obligation  ? 
Can  it  obliterate  the  sense  of  guilt  from 
your  mind?  Never.  After  repentance 
you  will  still  feel  as  guilty — as  deserving 
of  the  wrath  of  God  as  before.  , 

A  child  disobeys  his  parents'  commands 
and,  afterwards,  sees  how  wicked  and  un- 
kind the  act  of  disobedience  was.  He 
feels  grieved  that  he  has  so  done  and  con- 
fesses it  to  his  parents.  Now,  how  does 
that  child  feel  in  relation  to  his  sin  ?  Is 


A  BROTHER.  43 

his  conscience  relieved  ?  Has  he  made 
satisfaction  *?  No ;  he  still  reflects  upon 
his  guilt  and  is  sensible  that  he  has  madfe 
no  reparation  of  a  broken  law.  It  still  re- 
mains a  truth  and  as  serious  a  truth  as 
ever  that  the  commands  of  his  parents 
were  disobeyed  by  him.  The  guilt  is  in 
no  degree,  diminished  by  his  sorrow  for  it. 

So  your  penitence  in  view  of  your  sin 
against  a  kind  and  merciful  God  will  nev- 
er, in  the  least,  diminish  the  guilt  of  it.  It 
will  forever  be  true,  that  the  law  of  God 
has  been  broken  by  you  unkindly  and  re- 
belliously.  No  groans,  nor  tears,  nor 
confessions  will  alter  the  debt  you  have 
contracted  by  sin.  They  can  never  atone 
for  one  transgression. 

The  law  does  not  demand  repentance  of 
the  infringer  of  it.  It  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  If  it  were  available  in  restoring 
innocence  to  one  who  has  sinned  by  diso- 
beying any  of  the  commands  of  God,  sure- 
ly a  promise  to  that  effect  would  have 
been  included  in  the  law.  But  no  such 
promise  is  made.  So  far  then  is  repen- 


44  LETTERS  TO 

tance  from  reinstating  the  transgressor  in 
a  condition  of  innocence — so  far  is  it  from 
satisfying  the  law,  that  the  law  recognizes 
no  such  thing  as  repentance. 

Your  sorrow  for  sin,  then,  my  brother, 
gives  you  no  advantage  in  regard  to  free- 
dom from  guilt.  You  stand  still  accused 
as  a  rebel  against  God  and  a  transgressor 
of  the  law. 

Neither  is  repentance,  in  itself,  aground 
of  pardon.  The  sentence  of  the  law 
against  those  who  break  it  is  positive  and 
unconditional.  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die."  "  Cursed  is  every  one  who  con- 
tinueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them !"  God's  word 
has  gone  forth  that  whoever  breaks  one 
command  of  the  law  shall  perish  misera- 
bly. Repentance  alone  cannot  avail  to 
hold  unexecuted  the  sentence.  Shall  God 
forbear  to  inflict  punishment  on  the  infrin- 
gers  of  his  law  which  is  backed  by  such 
tremendous  penalties,  merely  because 
they  are  sorry  for  having  so  done  °l  What 
will  become  of  his  veracity  *?  Who  would 


A  BROTHER.  45 

fear  God,  if  it  was  generally  understood 
that  He  would  forgive  those  who  are  sorry 
for  their  sins  9  Either  God  is  not  a  God  of 
truth  and  integrity  or  H  e  will  not  pardon 
the  breach  of  His  law  for  repentance  as  a 
ground.  It  is  not  an  equivalent.  So  that 
the  sentence  of  the  law  stands  against  you 
in  full  force  even  after  repentance  is  ex- 
ercised, unless  it  can  be  shown  that  an 
equivalent  has  been  paid  in  some  other 
way. 

I  might  illustrate  this  truth  by  a  famil- 
iar case  which  occurs  to  my  mind.  A 
certain  man,  not  long  since,  forged  a 
check  upon  one  of  our  most  respectable 
banks,  for  which  he  received  10,000  dol- 
lars which  he  soon  put  out  of  his  hands  in 
payment  of  his  debts.  It  was  providen- 
tially discovered,  and  the  fraud  was  pro- 
ved to  have  been  committed  by  him. 
Meanwhile,  on  reflecting  upon  his  crime, 
he  felt  a  sense  of  guilt  and  repented  that 
he  had  so  done.  He  felt  truly  penitent  for 
his  sin.  And  when  the  sheriff  was  con- 
ducting him  to  prison — he  exhibited  eve- 


46  LETTERS  TO 

ry  mark  of  genuine  sorrow  for  his  wicked- 
ness. The  magistrate,  who  had  the  pow- 
er to  pardon  him,  was  convinced  of  his  sin- 
cerity and  believed  that  he  was  truly  pen- 
itent. Yet  when  application  was  made  to 
him,  by  a  large  number  of  respectable 
friends,  for  his  release,  he  would  not  grant 
it.  Now  I  ask  you,  if  you  suppose  the  re- 
pentance of  that  forger  laid  the  magistrate 
under  any  obligation  to  pardon  him  !  Did 
his  penitence  remove  all  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  his  forgiveness  *?  If  so,  then  in 
every  case,  where  there  is  evidence  of  re- 
pentance, pardon  ought  to  be  bestowed. 
On  this  principle  many  a  murderer  would 
escape  the  gallows,  for  many  have  truly 
repented  of  their  crime.  No;  there  are 
other  questions  to  be  considered  than 
whether  a  criminal  has  repented  or  not  *? 
Will  the  laiv  permit  his  pardon  ?  Will  no  in- 
jury result  to  community  from  it  ?  Will  not 
others  become  bold  in  sin  in  the  hope  of 
pardon  if  convicted  ?  "  Will  his  peni- 
tence, (the  magistrate  may  say)  secure  my 
justification,  if  I  pardon  one  who,  all  are 


A  BROTHER  47 

convinced,  is  guilty,  and  on  whom  the  law 
requires  me  to  inflict  a  specific  punish- 
ment °?"  You  will  perceive  that  these  ques- 
tions must  be  answered  satisfactorily,  be- 
fore the  culprit  can  safely  be  pardoned. 
And  even  then,  there  is,  confessedly,  no 
obligation  broken  if  pardon  is  refused.  If 
granted,  it  is  a  mere  act  of  mercy.  It  may 
have  been  suggested,  indeed,  by  the  evi- 
dence which  was  given  of  repentance. 
Repentance  may  have  been  the  occasion 
but  not  the  ground  of  pardon. 

Now  God's  laws  were  made  for  intelli- 
gent men.  They  were  communicated,  in 
substance,  to  Adam  while  in  a  state  of  ho- 
liness. All  the  motives,  wrhich  can  be 
conceived  to  influence  a  holy  mind,  were 
urged  upon  him,  and  that  too  while  his 
heart  was  uncorrupted.  Who  does  not 
see  that  for  him  to  break  the  law  of  God 
was  a  crime  of  fearful  magnitude  and  that 
his  repentance,  if  genuine,  could  not,  con- 
sistently, be  accepted  as  a  reparation  of 
the  broken  law  <?  All  the  descendants  of 
Adam  are  subjected  to  the  same  holy  and 


48  LETTERS  TO 

perfect  law,  because  no  other  less  perfect 
law  would  consist  with  the  holiness  and 
perfection  of  God.  And,  although  we 
are  in  circumstances  less  favorable  to  per- 
fect obedience  than  those  in  which  Adam 
was  placed,  yet  no  one  can  reasonably 
doubt  that  we  have  the  ability  (either 
natural  or  moral)  to  yield  such  obedience. 
If,  then,  contrary  to  our  complete  know- 
ledge of  duty,  we  commit  sin,  we  lay  our- 
selves, as  I  have  before  said,  under  the 
curse.  And  can  we  suppose  that  God  is 
under  the  necessity  of  pardoning  us,  because 
we  repent  ?  It  is  not  so.  We  must  repent, 
because  we  have  done  wrong,  but  we  must 
never  suppose  that  it  will  be  the  ground  or 
reason  of  our  forgiveness.  If  it  is  a  condi- 
tion of  pardon,  it  certainly  is  not  the  reason 
of  it 

Now  I  know  the  tendency  of  the  natu- 
ral mind  to  look  for  given  and  advanta- 
geous results  from  all  its  movements.  And 
if  it  cannot  see  an  intrinsic  value  in  repen- 
tance in  reference  to  the  security  of  some 
permanent  good,  it  will  discard  the  very 


A  BROTHER.  49 

thought  of  it.  But  the  reason  is,  it  does 
not  feel  its  guilt.  It  may  have  a  specula- 
tive knowledge  of  it3  but  not  an  efficient 
knowledge.  If  the  fact  of  a  sinner's  re- 
pentance has  any  value,  it  is  a  factitious 
value,  that  is  to  say,  a  value  acquired  by 
the  occurrence  of  some  other  fact  foreign 
to  it.  It  will,  as  I  have  proved,  never  be 
admitted  by  God  as  a  ground  of  justifica- 
tion or  pardon. 

You  see  then,  my  dear  brother,  that 
so  far  as  our  investigations  have  yet 
gone,  you  are  in  a  most  hopeless  and  des- 
perate state.  A  broken  law  unrepaired, 
utters  still  against  you  its  fearful  curses. 
The  mount  of  Sinai  sends  forth  still  its 
awful  notes  of  alarm.  No  bow  of  hope 
arches  the  sky.  Darkness  and  clouds  are 
about  the  throne  of  God.  Oh  !  what 
wrecks  has  sin  made  !  What  ruins  are  all 
around  us  !  On  the  examination  of  your 
condition  in  relation  to  God,  you  find 
yourself  a  wretched  sinner — whom  no 
prayers — no  tears — no  penitence  can  de- 


60  LETTERS  TO 

liver  from  the  guilt  of  having  broken  the 
law  a  thousand  times.  No  reparation  of 
a  single  breach  can  you  ever  make.  Re- 
pentance, so  much  your  duty  and  so  much 
your  privilege^  possesses  no  merit — atones 
for  no  sin — will  never  be  accepted  as  THE 
REASON  of  salvation  or  pardon.  God  has 
said  himself,  "  All  our  righteousnesses  are 
as  filthy  rags."  (Isa.  64:  6.)  What,  then, 
can  you  do  <?  What  refuge,  then,  is  there 
for  you  from  the  full  execution  of  all  the 
woes  threatened  in  the  law  *?  Let  this 
thought  fill  your  mind,  that  past  guilt  can- 
not be  pardoned  by  repentance  as  a 
ground  !  Feel  that  you  have  brought  your- 
self into  a  condition  from  which  no  hu- 
man efforts  can  save  you — a  condition  of 
wrath  and  final  woe  !  And  feel  too,  that  it 
is  a  just  punishment  which  impends  over 
you  and  from  which  no  earthly  power  can 
snatch  you !  Nor  does  the  fearfulness  of 
your  condition  release  you  from  the  per- 
formance of  a  single  duty.  Be  sensible 
of  your  guilt  and  repent  and  confess  your 


A  BROTHER.  61 

sins  to  God  which  are   your  reasonable 
service.     I  shall  write  again  soon. 
Your  affectionate  brother. 


52  LETTERS  TO 


LETTER    V. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

The  question,  which  most  naturally 
arises  in  view  of  statements  and  argu- 
ments like  those  contained  in  my  four  for- 
mer letters,  is  a  most  solemn  and  inter- 
esting one.  "  Is  there  no  hope  for  me  ?" 

How  can  there  be  any  hope  for  a  sinner 
like  you,  or  for  any  of  the  fallen  race  of 
man  *?  Has  not  GOD  uttered  the  curse  *? 
Is  not  the  sentence  of  death  eternal  seal- 
ed with  his  name  *?  And  with  acknowledg- 
ed justice  too  ?  Who  then  can  save  you 
from  the  devouring  fire  ?  Who  can  re- 
deem you  from  everlasting  burnings? 
Solemn,  momentous  questions ! 

My  dear  brother,  there  is — there  is  hope. 
I  rejoice  to  communicate  the  cheering  in- 
telligence. God,  from  His  high  throne, 


A  BROTHER.  6* 

seems  even  now  commissioning  his  mes- 
sengers of  mercy  to  bring  aid  to  your  des- 
pairing soul.  "Deliver  him  from  going 
down  to  the  pit ;  I  have  found  a  RAN- 
SOM !"  (Job  33:  24.)  O !  does  not  your 
soul  glow  with  the  thought  that  you  are 
yet  a  prisoner  of  hope  ?  That  there  is  a 
power  which  can  pour  light  into  the  dark 
prison  in  which  you  have  been  so  long 
confined  9 

If  the  prisoner,  who  has  long  worn  the 
galling  chain  in  the  depths  of  a  gloomy 
dungeon  without  the  most  distant  idea  of 
ever  being  permitted  to  ascend  to  the  light 
of  day,  should  be  told  that  a  way  of  es- 
cape had  been  provided  which  was  secure 
from  pursuit  and  that  he  was  required  on- 
ly to  follow  the  leadings  of  his  informer, 
what  strength  of  joy — what  enthusiasm 
would  swell  his  soul  as  he  immediately 
made  ready  for  his  departure  !  And  shall 
not  the  glad  tidings  from  heaven  to  the 
soul  of  a  dying  sinner  revive  the  decaying 
energies  of  his  nature  ?  Even  the  angels 
evinced  their  joy  in  the  redeeming  work 
5* 


64  LETTERS  TO 

of  God.  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
peace,  good-will  towards  men !"  (Luke  2: 
14.)  Alas !  what  would  have  become  of 
man,  if  he  had  been  left  to  fill  up  the  mea- 
sure of  his  days  without  an  object  of  hope 
upon  which  to  fix  his  affections  ! 

Do  you  ask,  with  incredulity,  how  can 
God's  law  be  sustained  if  he  saves  those 
who  have  broken  it  ?  Or,  How  can  a  bro- 
ken law  be  repaired  ?  I  answer,  it  can  only 
be  done  by  a  vicarious  atonement.  Some 
one  must  take  the  sinner's  place.  The 
law  condemns  you  to  death  for  your  sins 
— now  some  one,  of  sufficient  qualifica- 
tions, must  assume  the  debt  which  you 
have  long  owed  to  God.  He  must  take 
upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  set- 
tling the  demands  of  the  law.  There 
can  be  no  other  way.  The  sword  of  jus- 
tice  MUST  fall.  The  sentence  of  the  law 
must  be  executed.  There  may  possibly 
be  a  transfer  of  exposure  to  punishment 
from  you  to  some  one  else.  In  no  other 
way  can  you  be  quit  of  the  punishment 
which  now  hangs  over  you. 


A  BROTHER.  65 

Who  then,  my  brother,  is  competent  to 
the  high  task  of  atoning  for  the  sins  of 
men  ?  There  are  many  opinions  on  this 
question,  some  of  which  I  shall  mention 
in  order  that  your  mind  may  be  forever 
set  at  rest  in  regard  to  their  strength  or 
weakness.  All  believers  in  a  revelation 
made  by  God,  agree  in  this,  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  whose  history  is  contained  in 
the  New  Testament,  was  either  the  effi- 
cient or  instrumental  agent  in  accomplish- 
ing an  atonement  for  sin.  They  all  be- 
lieve that  his  appearance  on  earth — his 
life — his  sufferings  and  his  death  were,  in 
some  way,  connected  with  human  salva- 
tion. But  there  are  wide  differences  of 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  character  of  Christ 
— differences  so  important  as  to  exclude 
the  one  class  of  professed  believers  from 
the  Christian  charity  and  communion  of 
the  other. 

It  is  believed  by  some  that  the  Redeem- 
er was  a  mere  man — only  a  man.  Let  us 
inquire  now  if  an  atonement  for  sin  could 
have  been  made  by  him.  We  will  sup- 


56  LETTERS  TO 

pose  him  perfect  in  character  and  posses- 
sed of  all  those  pure  principles  which 
were  the  original  inheritance  of  the  first 
man.  Can  Tie  restore  fallen  men  to  the 
favour  of  God  9  Can  he  repair  a  shattered 
law  9  Can  he,  by  subjecting  himself  to 
the  curse  which  has  gone  forth  against 
the  sinner,  bear  it  for  him,  so  that  it  shall 
be  removed  from  its  rightful  owner  °l  How 
can  he  do  this  9  By  taking  the  sinner's 
place  9  By  subjecting  himself  to  the  same 
punishment  9  But  what  more  will  such  an 
act  of  a  perfectly  holy  man  effect  than  to 
set  one  sinner  free.  One  man  cannot  sure- 
ly stand  in  the  place  of  more  than  one  man. 
Now  would  God  suffer  a  sinner  to  escape 
from  justice  and  inflict  punishment  upon 
a  perfectly  holy  man  ?  There  are  two  rea- 
sons why  he  would  not  do  this.  One  is, 
that  he  sees  his  own  image  in  the  face  of 
the  substitute  and  he  cannot  deface  it. 
He  cannot  inflict  punishment  upon  one 
who  has  ever  loved  him  and  given  him  his 
best  affections.  Another  reason  is,  his 
character  would  not,  by  such  an  event,  be 


A  BROTHER.  57 

justified  if  he  should  save  the  sinner.  He 
has  pledged  his  word  that  the  sinner  shall 
die.  He  made  no  reserve  in  favour  of 
the  sinner,  as  that  he  might  escape,  if  he 
could  obtain  one  to  supply  his  place. 
Men  would  inquire,  what  has  become  of 
God's  truth  *?  They  would  be  unable  to 
see  any  justification  of  his  character  in 
the  fact  that  he  inflicted  punishment  on 
an  innocent  man  in  order  to  set  a  guilty 
wretch  free.  Besides,  as  we  have  seen, 
one  holy  man  could  take  the  place  of  only 
one  sinner  even  if  such  substitution  were 
permitted.  If  Christ,  then,  was  a  man — 
a  mere  man — he  was  not  competent  to  the 
work  of  atonement.  His  sufferings  and 
death  would  not  be  available  in  reconcil- 
ing the  world  unto  God  or  in  justifying  the 
act  of  God  in  saving  any  sinners  from 
eternal  death.  If  he  was  a  mere  man, 
you  can  hope  for  no  advantage  from  his 
death. 

Another  class  of  professed  believers  in 
Revelation  admit  that  Christ  was  more 
than  a  mere  man — they  acknowledge  him 


58  LETTERS  TO 

to  be  higher  than  the  angels — even  the 
highest  created  being  in  the  universe. 
Those  who  hold  to  this  opinion  are  usual- 
ly denominated  Unitarians  although  that 
term  includes  many  of  the  former  class  of 
believers.  Can  then  Christ,  considered 
in  this  light,  accomplish  an  atonement  for 
sin'? 

Are  not  the  difficulties  in  this  case  as 
great  or  greater  than  in  the  other  *?  Here 
is  a  being,  more  glorious  than  the  highest 
archangels,  yet  a  creature  of  God,  mani- 
fested in  human  flesh — living  a  life  of  re- 
proach and  misery — and  submitting  at 
length  to  the  death  of  the  cross.  He  does 
this  voluntarily,  when  he  might  have  re- 
mained in  his  glory,  chanting  his  songs  of 
praise  to  God  and  being  filled  with  the  joys 
of  His  presence.  O !  it  was  love  that  indu- 
ced him  him  to  come  down  from  heaven — 
to  suffer — to  bleed  and  to  die  !  What  phi- 
lanthropy !  What  enthusiasm  of  love ! 
to  exhibit  such  condescension  that  man 
might  be  saved!  But, my  dear  brother,  what 
other  feeling  is  mingled  with  our  admira- 


A  BROTHER.  59 

tion  of  his  holy  philanthropy  ?  Is  not  here 
a  sufficient  sacrifice  *?  Is  not  God  now  jus- 
tified in  saving  sinners  whom  he  has 
doomed  to  death  eternal  *?  Will  He  not 
heed  the  condescension — the  love — the 
sufferings — the  sympathy — of  the  noblest 
and  best  of  His  creatures  ? 

Alas  !  alas  !  There  is  no  comfort  here  ! 
'Tis  but  the  voice  of  love  that  addresses 
the  compassion  of  God  !  'Tis  the  plea  of 
mercy  only,  which  the  sufferings  of  such  a 
being  presents  !  Is  justice  satisfied  °l  Has 
she  put  up  her  sword  in  its  scabbard'? 
No ;  she  holds  it  uplifted  over  the  sinner 
still. 

Such  a  being,  as  we  are  now  supposing 
Christ  to  have  been,  can  have  no  more  ho- 
liness than  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  have 
in  order  to  sustain  his  place  in  the  ranks 
of  the  heavenly  hosts.  He  can  spare  none 
for  the  dying  sinner.  His  sufferings  and 
death  would  be  derogatory  to  the  charac- 
ter of  Jehovah.  Though  He  has  a  perfect 
right  to  do  what  he  will  with  His  own,  yet 
he  will  never  inflict  punishment  upon  one 


60  LETTERS  TO 

who  is  not  guilty.  He  says  himself,  "  the 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  Nor  would 
the  death  of  such  a  being  show  the  love  of 
God.  It  would  show  a  love  for  sinners  in 
the  mind  of  the  substitute,  but  not  in  the 
mind  of  God.  It  would  not  show  a  regard 
to  the  honor  of  His  law — it  would  not 
convince  the  world,  that  God  loved  justice, 
because,  it  would  imply  no  sacrifice  on  His 
part. 

I  will  illustrate  my  meaning  to  make 
it  more  intelligible.  An  individual  is 
brought  before  a  king,  who  has  broken  a 
law  to  which  a  severe  penalty  is  annexed 
— viz :  the  loss  of  both  his  eyes.  The 
fact  of  his  having  broken  the  law  has  been 
clearly  proved  so  as  to  leave  no  room  for 
doubt.  The  king  orders  the  sentence  to 
be  executed.  At  this  moment,  a  person, 
who  has  conceived  a  strong  affection  for 
the  criminal,  offers  to  submit  to  the  penal- 
ty himself  on  condition  of  a  pardon  for  the 
other.  What  impressions  now  would 
spectators  have  in  regard  to  such  a  sub- 
stitution as  is  here  proposed  ?  They  would 


A  BROTHER.  61 

be  affected  by  such  a  generous  exhibition  of 
love  to  the  criminal  in  the  proposed  sub- 
stitute. Suppose,  then,  the  king  should 
ask  their  opinion  of  *  the  proposal,  and 
whether  he  had  better  consent  to  it, 
would  they  not  all,  to  a  man,  exclaim 
against  it  ?  Would  they  not  all  say,  Let 
the  real  criminal  bear  his  own  punishment  ? 
In  their  view,  could  the  conduct  of  the 
king  be  justified  if  he  should  cause  the 
sentence  to  be  executed,  according  to  re- 
quest, upon  any  other  than  the  true  cul- 
prit ?  And  if  he  felt  as  he  should  feel, 
would  he  not  say  to  the  man,  who  so  kind- 
ly offered  to  lose  his  eyes  that  his  friend's 
might  be  preserved  to  him,  "I  cannot 
spare  your  services  who  have  ever  obeyed 
my  laws  and  have  been  a  pattern  of  obe- 
dience to  others  ?  I  can  better  spare  his, 
who  has  rebelled  and  introduced  confu- 
sion into  the  kingdom  ?  Besides,  my  word 
is  pledged,  and  your  standing  in  his  place, 
instead  of  justifying  me  in  releasing  him 
from  punishment,  will  render  it  necessa- 
6 


62  LETTERS  TO 

ry  for  me  to  justify  myself  in  condemning 
you,  an  innocent  person." 

So  the  case  would  be  in  reference  to 
God,  if  He  should  receive,  as  a  substitute 
for  the  sinner,  any  created  being,  however 
high.  Such  a  substitute  would  avail  no- 
thing in  regard  to  the  sinner's  salvation. 
The  character  of  God  would  suffer  if  he 
should  consent  to  it.  His  law — so  strict 
— so  unrelenting — would  utter  its  sanc- 
tions in  vain. 

In  short,  there  is  nothing  striking — 
nothing  that  meets  the  mind — nothing  that 
enobles  the  law  and  exhibits  the  dignity 
and  glory  of  God — in  such  a  scheme  of  re- 
demption. There  is  in  it,  on  the  contrary, 
a  lowering  down  of  the  rigid  principles  of 
truth — there  is  a  seeming  show  of  regard  to 
law  without  the  reality.  It  does  not  satis- 
fy a  mind  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  guilt 
and  longing  for  relief.  You  would  not 
feel,  my  brother,  like  going  to  such  a  per- 
son for  pardon  and  peace.  There  is  a 
want  of  greatness  in  the  work  of  redemp- 


A  BROTHER.  63 

tion  as  professedly  accomplished  by  a 
creature  of  God,  endued,  as  he  might  be, 
with  supernatural  power  and  glory.  Your 
soul  would  be  ever  agitated  with  doubts  as 
to  his  ability  to  save.  You  would  never 
rely  on  his  power  nor  trust  yourself  upon 
the  ocean  of  eternity  without  a  more  un- 
doubted support — a  surer  refuge.  I  shall, 
in  my  next  letter,  endeavor  to  solve  the 
difficulty — the  seeming  difficulty — in  the 
way  of  a  sinner's  salvation. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 


64  LETTERS  TO 


LETTER   VI. 


Mr  BEAR  BROTHER, 

In  my  last  letter,  I  affirmed  that  a  way 
of  escape  was  open  to  the  condemned  sin- 
ner from  the  execution  of  his  sentence. 
I  then  examined  some  opinions  in  regard 
to  the  mode  of  the  sinner's  salvation  by  a 
substitute — as  that  of  a  perfect  man  or  a 
super-angelic  being.  I  trust  you  were  con- 
vinced that  no  created  being  could  have 
taken  the  sinner's  place  so  as  to  transfer 
the  sentence  to  himself,  and  prevent  its  in- 
fliction upon  the  guilty;  and  that  such  a 
theory  solves  none  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  your  mind  has  been  pressed.  No; 
my  brother,  rely  not  on  such  dangerous — 
such  fatal  opinions.  There  must  always 
be  ^restlessness  in  the  minds  of  all  who  em- 
brace them. 


A  BROTHER.  65 

You  may  be  desirous,  then,  to  inquire, 
"Who  can  stand  in  my  place — in  the  place 
of  all  dying  sinners  *?"  I  answer,  GOB  ! 
"God  manifest  in  the  flesh!"  He  and  He  a- 
lone  could  have  accomplished  the  work 
of  man's  redemption.  And  He  has  actu- 
ally accomplished  it !  But  Oh !  how  mys- 
teriously He  wrought  in  its  execution ! 
Adore,  my  dear  brother,  the  riches  of  the 
grace  which  induced  Jehovah  to  stoop  so 
low  from  His  high  throne  to  save  such 
sinners  as  you  and  I ! 

In  dwelling  upon  this  scheme  of  Re- 
demption— a  scheme  worthy  of  its  glori- 
ous Designer — I  can  touch  only  upon  a 
few  points  in  its  history.  As  the  scripture 
expresses  it,  "JHe  saw  that  there  was  no 
man  and  wrondered  that  there  was  no  in- 
tercessor; therefore  His  arm  brought  sal- 
vation unto  Him,  and  His  righteousness, 
it  sustained  Him."  (Isa.  59:  16.)  "God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son  that  whosever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life."  (John  3:  16.) 
6* 


66  LETTERS  TO 

The  Bible,  in  many  parts  of  it,  describes 
God  as  existing  in  three  Persons — to  which 
mode  of  existence  there  is  no  human  an- 
alogy. Nor  can  we  conceive  of  such  a 
thing  for  the  very  plain  reason  that  we 
have  not  now  the  senses  by  which  we  can 
perceive  spirit.  As  we  have  no  conception 
of  the  nature  of  spirit,  we  can  know  noth- 
ing of  the  mode  of  its  existence.  This  is 
a  matter  of  pure  Revelation,  which  it  is 
not  the  province  of  reason  to  impugn.  To 
these  three  Persons  in  the  Godhead,  the 
terms,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  are 
affixed  in  Scripture  in  reference  to  the 
work  which  They  have  accomplished  and 
are  still  to  accomplish.  It  was  the  SON 
to  whom  was  committed  the  work  of 
atonement.  He  left  the  throne  in  the 
heavens  and  descended  into  a  bodily  form. 
He  "was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us  (and  we  beheld  His  glory  the  glory  as 
of  the  only  Begotten  of  the  Father,)  full 
of  grace  and  truth."  (John  ] :  14.) 

I  need  not  set  down  the  history  of  His 
life  on  earth,  as  you  may  read  it  in  the 


A  BROTHER,  67 

four  Gospels  expressed  in  more  affecting 
language  than  any  I  can  employ.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  He  suffered  much 
from  the  rage  of  his  enemies  and  from  the 
suspicions  of  his  friends.  After  passing- 
through  about  thirty  years  of  reproaches 
and  privations  and  trials  of  which  we  can 
form  little  conception.  He  finished  his 
work  of  atonement  by  crucifixion  on  the 
hill  of  Calvary.  Oh  !  what  agony  He  en- 
dured in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  when 
borne  down  with  the  weight  of  a  world's 
sins  He  sweat,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of 
blood  falling  down  to  the  ground  !  And 
who  can  conceive  the  anguish  that  swell- 
ed His  holy  soul  as  the  wicked  men,  whom 
He  came  to  save,  nailed  Him  to  the  cross 
and  pierced  Him  with  a  spear!  There  "He 
bare  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows." 
(Isa.  53:  4.)  There  He  bore  upon  his 
shoulders  the  guilt  of  a  rebellious  and 
hell-deserving  world  !  Thy  sins,  too,  and 
mine  were  there  !  For  He  looked  down  the 
interval  of  years  between  us  and  Him  and 
knew  every  sin  we  should  commit  and 


68  LETTERS  TO 

made  expiation  for  them  there !  And 
when  amidst  the  darkness  of  sympathizing 
nature,  He  exclaimed,  "  It  is  finished !" 
(John  19:  30.)  and  gave  up  the  Ghost, 
then  it  was  that  earth  and  heaven  and  all 
created  beings  exclaimed,  "  Let  man  be 
saved,  for  Thou  hast  paid  the  ransom !" 

And  was  not  the  law — the  stern,  un- 
yielding law  of  God — maintained  ?  Was  it 
not  honored  by  such  a  costly  sacrifice? 
Could  it  demand  a  more  precious  victim 
than  the  Son  of  God?  The  Author  of  the 
law  has  taken  the  sinner's  place  and  re- 
ceived the  curse  upon  Himself,  rather 
than  dishonor  and  destroy  the  efficiency 
of  it  by  omitting  to  exact  the  penalty,  of 
the  transgressors. 

The  object  of  the  penalties  of  the  law 
was  to  secure  obedience.  If  no  atonement 
had  been  made,  and  those  penalties  had 
not  been  inflicted  on  sinners,  the  law 
would  have  been  rendered  inefficient. 
But  now  sinners  will  not  take  license  to 
break  the  commands  of  God,  merely  be- 
cause they  see  that  its  penalties  have  not 


A  BROTHER.  69 

been  invariably  imposed.  They  see  in  the 
condescension  and  incarnation  and  death 
of  the  Son  of  God,  in  order  to  justify  Him 
in  saving  the  guilty,  an  awful  result  of  a 
violated  law.  "  What !"  will  be  the  feel- 
ing of  the  heart,  "  Must  the  Infinite  God 
connect  Himself  with  corrupt  humanity, 
and,  in  that  mysterious  connection,  pass 
through  sufferings  and  through  the  grave, 
that  the  sanctions  of  His  law  may  not  be 
annulled?  It  is,  then,  a  fearful  thing  to 
break  the  law  of  God,  backed  by  such 
sanctions !" 

The  sinner,  who  has  ever  thought  upon 
the  way  of  reconciliation  between  him 
and  God — upon  the  sacrifices  made  to 
open  it — will  feel  that  no  particle  of  li- 
cense is  afforded  to  sin  by  the  justification 
which  God  gives  to  the  repenting  and  re- 
turning soul. 

Satisfaction  has  indeed  been  made  by 
the  death  of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  those 
who  come  to  Him  in  faith.  The  door  of 
salvation  is  now  open  to  admit  all  the 


70  LETTERS  TO 

descendants  of  Adam  who  may  wish  to 
enter. 

It  is  impossible  to  show,  by  an  illustra- 
tion, the  power  given  to  the  law  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Calvary.  But  the  nature  of 
the  influence  imparted  to  it  may  be  seen 
imperfectly  in  the  following  facts  of  his- 
tory : — 

An  ancient  king  made  a  law  that  if 
any  individual  should  be  guilty  of  a  cer- 
tain specified  crime  throughout  his  do- 
minions, he  should  be  deprived  of  both 
his  eyes.  His  own  son  was  soon  after 
proved  to  be  a  transgressor  of  this  law 
and  the  first  transgressor.  The  sympa- 
thies of  the  father  were  excited.  He 
loved  his  son.  If  the  sentence  of  the  law 
were  executed  upon  him,  his  usefulness 
would  be  at  an  end.  The  thought  too, 
that  he  must  himself  issue  the  orders  for 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  upon  his 
own  son,  was  heart-rending.  His  ene- 
mies supposed  that  the  father  would  spare 
his  son  and  thus  he  would  be  under  the 


A  BROTHER.  71 

necessity  of  abolishing  the  law  and  weak- 
ening the  strength  of  his  government. 
What  did  the  unhappy  father  do  ?  He 
caused  the  executioner  to  put  out  one  of 
his  eyes.  Will  not  this  satisfy  the  law? 
Will  not  men  see  that  the  king  intends 
to  put  the  penalties  of  the  law  in  full  ex- 
ecution? No;  the  whole  sentence  must  re- 
ceive its  fulfilment.  The  king,  to  show 
that  the  law  could  not  be  broken  without 
incurring  its  full  penalities,  causes  one  of 
his  own  eyes  to  be  put  out !  Here  he  mani- 
fested a  father's  sympathy  and  love,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  his  determination  to  main- 
tain the  sanctions  of  his  law.  Nor  would 
his  subjects  venture  to  transgress  a  sec- 
ond time,  because  the  first  transgressor  did 
not  receive  the  punishment  in  full  which 
was  threatened.  They  would  not  hope 
to  escape  in  such  a  case.  Was  not  the 
king  justified  in  the  view  of  all  his  sub- 
jects, in  forbearing  to  exact  the  whole  of 
the  sentence  ?  Was  not  the  object  of  the 
sentence  accomplished  as  much  as  it 


72  LETTERS  TO 

would  have  been  if  the  full  penalty  had 
been  inflicted? 

Now,  much  more  was  the  object  of  the 
Divine  law  secured  by  the  substitution  of 
an  Infinite  Being  in  the  place  of  created 
and  sinful  beings — to  bear  their  guilt  and 
to  suffer  Himself  the  infliction  of  the  pen- 
alty due  to  them.  The  law  stands  unin- 
jured still.  It  still  demands  obedience 
and  its  penalties  are  still  terrible  to  those 
who  incur  them.  No  one  expects  to  es- 
cape the  sentence  of  death  on  account  of 
any  past  forbearance  of  God. 

Thus  I  have  described  the  only  found- 
ation of  a  sinner's  hope,  an  atonement 
made  by  Jesus  Christ,  "  who,  as  to  his  hu- 
manity, was  descended  from  the  Israelites, 
but  who  was,  in  fact,  THE  SUPREME  AND 
EVER  BLESSED  GOD  !"  (Rom.  9:  5.)  If  his 
blood  had  not  been  shed,  you  could  never 
have  hoped  rationally  for  salvation.  "With- 
out the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remis- 
sion of  sins,"  is  the  affirmation  of  the  Bi- 
ble. And  John  says,  "  The  blood  of  Je- 


A  BROTHER.  73 

sus  Christ  cleanse th  us  from  all  sin."  (1 
John  1:  7.)  These  passages  show  that 
there  is  no  other  foundation  of  hope  than 
Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified.  If  he 
had  not  died  none  would  have  lived.  Be- 
cause he  has  died  all  may  live. 

How  wonderful  the  ways  of  God  !  They 
are  past  finding  out !  Who  would  have 
thought  that  such  a  plan  would  have 
been  devised  for  the  sinner's  salvation  ? 
What  one  redeeming  quality  did  man  pos- 
sess, fallen  as  he  was  in  rebellion  and 
guilt  ?  What  did  God  behold  in  him  that 
he  should  love  him  and  work  so  mysteri- 
ously to  raise  him  up  from  his  ruins  ?  God 
did,  indeed,  "  commend  His  love  to  us  in 
that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died 
for  us  !"  (Rom.  5:  8.) 

But  I  have  not  ventured  to  'say,  I  wish 
you  fully  to  understand,  that  the  atone- 
ment— the  glorious  atonement  has  secur- 
ed your  salvation.  It  has  not  secured  it, 
unless  something  has  been  done  on  your 
part.  The  death  of  Christ  places  you  in 
a  state  of  probation  from  which  state  Ad- 
7' 


74  LETTERS  TO 

am  fell ;  i.  e.  it  has  opened  a  door  through 
which  all  who  are  so  disposed  MAY  pass  and 
find  mercy  and  be  heirs  of  endless  bles- 
sedness. 

But  there  are  conditions  to  be  complied 
with  on  your  part  and  on  every  sinner's 
part,  before  you  can  receive  benefit  from 
the  atonement.  The  door  is  wide  open 
that  leads  to  happiness  and  ultimate  sal- 
vation ;  but  still  it  is  true  that  if  you  are 
disposed  to  continue  where  you  are,  you 
will  perish.'  Millions,  doubtless,  go  down 
to  death  notwithstanding  Christ  died.  And 
millions  more  will  go.  Strange  that  dying 
souls  will  not  seek  after  life — that  when 
all  things  are  ready  they  will  not  come  ! 

Some  criminals  are  confined  in  a  dun- 
geon awaiting  their  execution.  The  or- 
der arrives  from  the  magistrate  for  their 
freedom  on  a  few  simple,  easy,  and  proper 
conditions.  All  may  accept  the  offer  and 
live.  But  some  reject  the  conditions  and 
are  executed.  Strange  infatuation  ! 
Your  affectionate  brother, 


A  BROTHER. 


LETTER    VII. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  I 
remarked  in  my  last  letter,  have  removed 
every  obstacle  to  your  reconciliation  with 
God  which  resulted  from  the  original 
threatening  that  the  sinner  should  surely 
die.  They  rendered  it  possible  for  you  to 
be  saved.  But  the  benefits  of  this  atone- 
ment will  be  conferred  on  those  only  who  ful- 
fil certain  conditions.  The  object  of  this 
letter  is  to  state  and  explain  those  condi- 
tions. 

One  condition  is  that  you  repent  of  your 
sins.  I  have,  in  a  previous  letter,  attempt- 
ed to  convince  you  of  your  duty  in  this 
respect — that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one 
to  be  heartily  sorry  for  the  wrong  he  has 
done.  But  I  now  affirm  not  only  that  it 


76  LETTERS  TO 

is  your  duty,  but  that  it  is  necessary  to  your 
salvation. 

The  nature  of  repentance  has  been  al- 
ready explained  and  its  utter  inefficiency 
to  atone  for  sin.  Your  sorrow  for  having 
broken  the  law  does  not  repair  it.  But 
since  Christ  has  effected  an  atonement  for 
sin,  God  requires  no  satisfaction  from  the 
sinner  as  a  condition  of  mercy.  He  does, 
however,  require  the  transgressor  of  His 
law  to  repent  sincerely  of  his  guilt  and  to 
turn  from  his  evil  ways  and  from  his  un- 
righteous thoughts.  And  He  has  made 
it  a  requisition  without  complying  with 
which  no  sinner  can  ever  find  mercy. 
"  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish." 

If  you  are  heartily  grieved  on  account 
of  having  sinned  against  God,  you  may 
hope  that  God  will  receive  you  for  the  sake 
of  Christ.  But,  then,  your  penitence  must 
be  the  result  of  a  clear  sense  of  the  wrong 
you  have  clone,  not  of  a  confident  assu- 
rance that  it  will  issue  in  your  salvation. 

Many  persons  suppose  that   they  can 


A  BROTHER.  77 

repent  at  any  moment  of  their  lives  and, 
therefore,  delay  the  work  till  some  future 
time.  Now,  although  it  is  strictly  true 
that  they  will  ever  have  the  power — the 
natural  ability — to  repent,  yet  it  is  ex- 
tremely improbable  that  they  will  be  dis- 
posed to  repent,  after  repeatedly  deferring 
it  till  a  future  period.  There  are  multi- 
tudes of  examples  to  show  the  extreme 
danger  of  such  delays,  both  as  it  respects 
opportunities  for  repentance  and  as  it  res- 
pects the  disposition.  Many  have  become 
so  hardened  through  the  influence  of  sin 
as  to  be  apparently  unsusceptible  to  any 
serious  impressions.  Let  those  who  are 
disposed  to  delay  repentance,  expecting 
to  find  a  better  opportunity  or  time,  re- 
member that  repentance  is  not  an  act  of 
the  will,  but  a  particular  state  of  mind 
which  does  not  depend  on  the  will  except 
remotely,  and  they  will  see  at  once  that 
delay  is  dangerous. 

You  may,  doubtless,  by  earnestly  con- 
templating the  connexions  of  your  sin  with 
the  great  interests  of  the  universe  and  with 


78  LETTERS  TO 

the  glory  of  God,  be  led  to  feel  your  guilt 
and  to  be  in  that  state  of  mind  which  is 
properly  termed  repentance.  But  the  will 
has  nothing  more  to  do  with  it  than  to  de- 
termine upon  the  use  of  the  means  by 
which  this  penitent  state  of  the  mind  may 
be  induced.  It  is  not,  therefore,  strictly 
proper  for  me  to  tell  you  to  resolve  to  re- 
pent. But  I  may  tell  you  to  feel  your 
guilt — to  be  sensible  that  you  are  a  sinner 
and  to  be  sorry  for  it.  It  is  wholly  a  mat- 
ter of  feeling  not  of  will. 

If  you  ask  me,  therefore,  how  you  must 
proceed  in  order  to  obtain  a  penitent 
mind,  I  can  give  you  no  other  direction 
than  that  you  have  often  received  from  the 
pulpit ;  "  Go  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
and  to  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  there  view 
the  results  of  your  rebellion  and  guilt ! 
And  when  you  think  of  the  greatness  of 
Him  who  suffered  there,  and  that  your 
own  sins  helped  to  weigh  Him  down  with 
untold  anguish,  if  you  do  not  feel  your 
guilt  and  turn  away  from  it  forever,  the 
evidence  is  clear  that  your  soul  is  in  im- 


A  BROTHER.  79 

minent  danger  of  being  eternally  lost !" 
Oh !  it  would  seem  as  if  the  blood  of 
atonement  would  melt  into  contrition 
every  soul !  If,  my  brother,  you  ever  feel 
your  guilt  and  are  led  to  forsake  it,  it  will 
doubtless,  be  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
when  you  are  fixing  your  eye  upon  the 
spectacle  of  a  bleeding,  dying  Saviour. 
Yes,  "  He  was  exalted  to  the  cross  to  give 
repentance  to  Israel  and  forgiveness  of 
sins."  (Acts  5:  31.) 

There  is,  moreover,  another  condition  of 
salvation  which  you  are  required  to  ful- 
fil. It  is  contained  in  the  following  pas- 
sage of  Scripture ;  "  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  His  only  Begotten 
Son,  that  ivhosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
(John  3:  16.)  In  this  passage  you  see 
not  only  that  Christ  died,  but  that  He 
died  to  save  them  who  believe,  and,  by  in- 
ference, them  only.  Faith,  then,  is  essen- 
tial to  salvation.  As  I  have  already  said, 
God  does  not  now  require,  in  order  to  sal- 
vation, perfect  obedience  to  His  law,  aU 


80  LETTERS  TO 

though  its  claims  to  our  obedience  are  as 
imperative  as  ever,  but  He  has  required 
that  which  is  more  congruous  to  our  fall- 
en nature,  "  repentance  towards  God  and 
faith  toward  our  Lord,  Jesus  Christ."  Acts 
20:  21.  A  broken  law  we  cannot  repair, 
but,  with  God's  help,  we  can  repent  and 
believe.  What  is,  then,  faith  in  Christ? 

You  must  not  suppose  that  to  believe 
Christ  to  be  divine,  is  faith  in  Him ;  nor 
is  it  faith  in  Him  to  believe  that  such  a 
Being  once  lived  incarnate  on  earth,  and 
that  He  suffered  many  years  and  was,  in 
the  end,  crucified  by  those  He  came  to 
save.  Such  a  simple  belief  in  a  historical 
fact  is  not  what  the  gospel  requires  under 
the  name  of  faith.  Faith  is  of  more  exten- 
sive signification.  The  English  word  does 
not  express  all  the  meaning  of  the  Greek 
from  which  it  is  translated.  But  as  it  was 
designed  to  express  all  that  is  included  in 
the  original  word  it  is  proper  that  we 
should  so  understand  it. 

Faith  in  Christ,  then,  includes  a  full  and 
hearty  belief  in  His  character  as  repre- 


A  BROTHER.  81 

sen  ted  in  the  bible,  and  a  confidential  com- 
mittal of  one' s  self  to  His  divine  guidance — a 
throwing  one's  self  upon  Him  in  perfect  confi- 
dence. 

You  see,  my  dear  brother,  that  the  heart 
must  be  interested,  or  faith  is  not  genuine . 
You  are  required  to  believe  in  Christ  as 
your  only  Saviour  and  to  receive  Him  as 
the  object  of  your  supreme  affection. 
Love  to  the  world  is  inconsistent  with 
such  an  affection  for  Christ.  Unless  you 
have  thus  received  Christ,  your  specula- 
tive faith  is  utterly  vain.  He  will  be  sat- 
isfied only  with  your  heart — your  whole 
heart.  You  must  so  commit  yourself  to 
Him  as  to  feel  yourself  wholly  at  his  dis- 
posal— ready  to  be  guided  by  Him  and  to 
follow  Him  wherever  He  leads  the  way. 
This  is  the  only  way  in  which  you  can 
give  practical  evidence  of  living  faith. 

Let  me  illustrate  these  remarks  by  a 
familiar  example. 

A  traveller  is  benighted  on  an  intricate 
and  dangerous  road  full  of  pitfalls  and 
lined  with  bye-paths.  He  dares  not  ad- 


8*  LETTERS  TO 

vance  or  retire  lest  he  should  fall  or  be 
led  astray  and  be  destroyed.  In  this  sit- 
uation he  is  overtaken  by  a  man  who  pro- 
fesses to  be  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
way.  He  receives  from  him  the  most  sat- 
isfactory evidence  that  what  he  professes 
is  true.  The  traveller  perceives,  in  his 
new  acquaintance,  a  sure  guide.  He  is 
perfectly  assured  of  his  kind  interest  in 
his  own  preservation.  He  acknowledges 
him  to  be  every  way  qualified  to  under- 
take his  rescue  and  to  conduct  it  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue.  "  Well  then,  (says  the 
stranger)  take  my  arm — confide  in  my 
ability  and  disposition  to  extricate  you 
from  your  difficulties — be  guided  wholly 
by  me  and  I  will  conduct  you  safely 
through  this  dangerous  pass."  The  trav- 
eller hesitates.  He  says  to  himself,  "  He 
is  certainly  a  competent  guide — He  will 
do  as  he  says — I  believe  all  this — but  I 
am  unwilling  to  be  guided  by  him.  I  am 
resolved  to  act  independently  and  I  hope 
I  shall  get  through  safely."  The  kind 
stranger  passes  on  his  way ; — the  travel- 


A  BROTHER.  8S 

ler  is  bewildered  and  lost.  Now  of  what 
use  was  his  speculative  faith  in  the  stran- 
ger's ability  and  disposition  to  do  him  a 
favor'?  Of  no  possible  use.  If  his  faith 
had  been  effective  or  practical — if  he  had 
thrown  himself  upon  the  kind  offer  of  his 
friend  and  accepted  gratefully  his  proffer- 
ed assistance,  he  would  have  been  saved 
from  a  melancholy  death. 

Now,  my  brother,  you  see  what  I  mean 
when  I  say  that  your  speculative  faith  in 
Christ  will  not  save  you.  Christ  has  pro- 
ved to  you  his  perfect  ability  and  readi- 
ness to  act  as  your  guide  to  eternal  bles- 
sedness. He  has  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  way  for  He  has  himself  passed  it 
and  consecrated  it.  He  only  requires 
you  to  throw  yourself  upon  His  arm  confi- 
dentially and  to  be  guided  by  Him,  and 
He  promises  to  bear  you  safely  through 
the  desert  of  life  to  the  everlasting  ver- 
dure and  glory  of  heaven.  If  you  simply 
believe  that  He  can  save  you — if  you  only 
acknowledge  that  he  is  milling  and  ready 
to  save  you,  it  will  be  of  no  avail.  You 


84  LETTERS  TO 

must  have  confidence  in  His  power  and 
will,  and,moreover,  you  must  commit  your- 
self to  His  actual  guidance — following 
wherever  He  leads  and  you  will  be  safe. 

And  why  should  you  not  be  willing  to 
lay  aside  your  confidence  in  an  arm  of 
flesh  and  commit  yourself  wholly  to  the 
guidance  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  You  have  seen, 
from  a  former  letter,  that  nothing,  which 
you  can  do,  will,  in  the  least,  alter  your 
eternal  destinies  as  an  independent  act. 
Here  now  is  an  offer,  freely  made  by  Je- 
sus Christ,  that  if  you  .will  repent  of  hav- 
ing sinned  against  Him  and  commit  your- 
self to  His  care  and  guidance,  He  will 
bring  you  to  His  heavenly  rest.  These 
are  the  only  conditions  He  requires — they 
are  simple  and  easy.  Oh !  how  simple 
when  we  consider  the  greatness  of  our 
guilt ! 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  have 
made  it  consistent  with  the  strictness  of 
God's  law  that  H«  should  save  such  as  He 
pleases.  He  requires  now  only  repentance 
and  faith  in  the  sinner  in  order  to  his  sal- 


A  BROTHER.  85 

vation.  He  promises  that  if  you  will  obey 
these  requirements,  the  penalties  of  a  just 
law  shall  be  averted  from  you  and  that 
He  will  treat  you  hereafter  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  you  had  never  broken  the 
law,  Christ  having  borne  its  curse  for  you, 
(Gal.  3:  13.)  Oh!  then,  my  dear  brother, 
come  at  once  to  the  Saviour  with  peni- 
tence and  cast  yourself  CONFIDENTIALLY  up- 
on him,  pledging  yourself  to  be  His  for- 
ever. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 


86  LETTERS  TO 


LETTER    VIII. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

I  have  already  explained  the  principles 
on  which  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ 
will  be  effectual  in  securing  your  salva- 
tion. You  have  seen,  however,  that  the 
hearts  of  natural  men  are  exceedingly 
prone  to  evil — that  they  are  wholly  cor- 
rupt. Now,  although  the  way  for  your 
escape  from  sin  and  the  results  of  sin,  is 
open — although  Christ  has  died  to  secure 
to  you  the  inestimable  privileges  of  salva- 
tion— yet  the  tendency  of  your  affections 
is  towards  earthly  things — downwards. 
The  fact — the  simple  fact — that  Jesus 
Christ  has  died  to  secure  pardon  for  the 
penitent  and  believing  sinner,  is  not  suffi- 
cient of  itself  to  bring  the  work  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue.  The  heart  is  too  hard.  The 


A  BROTHER.  87 

soul  is  under  the  power  of  sin,  and  is  so 
influenced  by  the  great  adversary  of  man 
that  it  will  never  alone  and  unaided  rise 
from  its  ruins.  It  has  the  power  to  cast  it- 
self on  God  confidentially  and  find  salva- 
tion, but  it  has  not  the  will,  the  disposition 
— so  to  do.  It  may,  upon  the  conviction 
of  its  sin  by  the  conscience  which  God 
has  implanted  in  every  man,  struggle  to 
rise  above,  to  overcome  its  tendencies  to 
sin,  but  in  vain  till  aided  by  another  and 
a  higher  Power. 

Here,  then,  as  if  God  was  determined 
to  pour  all  His  blessings  upon  self-ruined 
man  and  to  leave  him  no  excuse  for  re- 
maining in  his  guilt,  the  third  person  of 
the  Trinity  offers  His  aid.  The  Holy 
Spirit  presents  Himself  to  the  heart  of 
every  sinner  and  knocks  for  admittance. 
He  helps  the  sinner,  who  is  "  sold  under 
sin,"  (Rom.  7: 14.)  to  escape  from  the  iron 
bondage. 

This  messenger  of  heaven  to  man  con- 
tinually pours  light  upon  the  dark  path 
of  the  benighted  wanderer  and  directs 


88  LETTERS  TO 

him  in  the  way  to  eternal  life.  Ever  since 
the  ascension  of  our  Saviour  He  has  ope- 
rated on  the  hearts  of  the  unregenerate, 
leading  them  quietly  and  calmly  to  view 
the  consequences  of  sin  and  the  ingrati- 
tude to  God  which  it  evinces.  And  with 
His  aid  thousands  and  millions  have  been 
changed  in  the  temper  of  their  minds  and 
have  accepted  Jesus  Christ  in  faith  and 
with  true  penitence  for  sin.  He  is  even 
now  silently,  like  the  "  still  small  voice," 
(1  Kings  19:  12.)  that  conversed  with  Eli- 
jah on  Mount  Horeb,  speaking  to  the  im- 
penitent and  pointing  them  to  Christ  cru- 
cified for  them.  You  have  heard  of  the 
extensive  revivals  which  prevailed  during 
the  past  year,  and  you  yourself  witnessed 
the  religious  awakening  as  it  was  called 

in  C ,  where  you  resided.     Now  those 

revivals  and  this  awakening  were  the  re- 
sult of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence  on  the 
minds  of  those  who  were  particularly  in- 
terested in  them.  All  the  great  revivals 
which  have  occurred  since  Christ's  time, 
were  His  work. 


A  BROTHER.  89 

God  has,  therefore,  furnished  you,  my 
brother,  with  aid  competent  to  the  suc- 
cessful accomplishment  of  the  great  work 
before  you.  You  will  never  repent  and 
embrace  Christ  in  faith,  till  you  are  assist- 
ed by  this  Divine  agent.  Still  your  re- 
pentance and  your  faith  are  your  own.  The 
Spirit  cannot  repent  for  you — He  cannot  have 
faith  for  you.  They  are  exercises  of  your 
own  mind  freely  put  forth.  But  then  the 
special  influences  of  the  Spirit  must  be 
felt  by  you  before  you  will  have  a  disposi- 
tion to  exercise  either  repentance  or  faith. 

Nor  does  He,  by  His  influence  on  the 
mind,  interfere  in  the  least  with  your  mor- 
al freedom.  He  exerts  His  influence 
through  the  medium  of  truth.  The  Bible 
was  composed  by  men  inspired  by  Him  ; 
consequently  all  its  instructions — all  its 
promises — all  its  threatenings — are  so  ma- 
ny addresses  of  the  Divine  Spirit  to  the 
conscience  of  the  sinner. 

And  there  is  another  influence,  exerted 
upon  the  mind  in  regeneration  by  the  Ho- 
ly Spirit,  in  a  manner  with  which  we  are 
*8 


90  LETTERS  TO 

wholly  unacquainted.  We  only  know 
that  the  truths  of  scripture,  faithfully  pre- 
sented to  an  audience  of  sinners,  produce 
a  wonderful  and  speedy  transformation  of 
feeling  and  character  in  some,  while  the 
minds  of  others  are  wholly  unaffected. 
We  attribute  the  effective  power  of  those 
truths  to  the  speciality  of  the  Divine  Spir- 
it's influence.  And  this  is  all  we  know. 
A  change  occurs — we  know  the  power 
that  produced  it — but  we  seek  in  vain  for 
the  mode  in  which  that  power  was  exert- 
ed. We  know  too,  that  the  sinner  is  ac- 
tive in  regeneration.  He  repents  and  em- 
braces in  faith  a  crucified  Redeemer. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  co-operation  of  the 
sinner  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  this  is 
conformable  to  the  sentiment  expressed 
in  the  following  passage  of  Scripture ; 
"  Work  out  your  own  salvation,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  which  work- 
eth  in  you  to  will  and  to  do."  (Phil.  2:  12, 
13.)  That  is,  it  is  He  that  works  with  you 
both  in  the  willing  and  in  the  doing. 
Many  objections  may  be  made  to  this 


A  BROTHER.  91 

statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  agency,  but  I  think  every  humble 
and  conscientious  Christian  will  agree 
with  me  that  it  is  substantially  correct. 

From  these  remarks,  then,  you  see  that 
even  the  atonement  does  not  secure  ne- 
cessarily the  salvation  of  every  sinner,  and 
that  the  promise,  made  to  the  impenitentj 
of  salvation  upon  repentance  and  faith  in 
consequence  of  the  atonement,  may  be  of 
no  avail,  because  repentance  and  faith 
will  never  be  exercised  till  another  power 
comes  in  to  the  sinner's  aid,  co-operating 
with  him  both  in  willing  and  in  doing. 
And  that  power  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 

How  necessary,  therefore,  my  dear 
brother,  that  you  secure  the  aid — the  ef- 
ficient aid— of  the  Holy  Spirit !  With  the 
natural  powers  of  mind  to  repent,  it  is 
morally  certain  that  you  will  never  have 
the  disposition  to  do  it,  till  specially  aided 
from  above.  But  the  assistance,  you  need, 
is  within  your  reach — it  is  ready  to  meet 
your  call.  The  Scriptures  say  "  To-day 
if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your 


92  LETTERS  TO 

hearts  !"  (Heb.  4:  7.)  "  The  Spirit  and 
the  bride  say,  come  !"  (Rev.  22:  17.) 
Every  preparation  is,  therefore,  made  for 
your  salvation  and  you  are  even  urged  by 
the  persuasive  strivings  of  the  Spirit,  to 
turn  and  live.  O  !  How  wonderful  is  the 
mercy  of  God  !  How  long-suffering  !  How 
prolific  in  blessings !  Who  would  have 
thought  it  9  That  when  we  were  in  our 
sins — rebelling  against  his  laws  and  king- 
dom— God  should  have  made  such  an 
atonement  and  accompanied  it  with  such 
an- exhibition  of  continued  love  as  is  seen 
in  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit!  And  is 
not  here  a  powerful  reason  for  your  sub- 
mission to  Him'?  Is  not  here  provision 
enough  for  your  salvation  *?  Oh !  let  the 
powerful  strivings  of  the  Divine  Agent  in 
your  heart  lead  you  to  embrace  with  pen- 
itence and  in  faith  a  crucified  Saviour. 

Now,  while  you  hear  his  voice  gently 
calling  upon  you  to  lay  aside  your  world- 
ly affections  and  to  give  to  God  your 
heart,  be  resolved  to  obey  his  call.  Let 
not  his  influences  be  quenched  forever — 


A  BROTHER  93 

but  cherish  them ;  they  will  lead  you  to 
happiness  and  heaven.  The  Spirit  will 
not  always,  strive.  You  may  resist  Him  so 
that  He  shall  turn  away  from  you  and 
leave  you,  like  Pharaoh,  a  monument  of 
Divine  indignation.  I  say,  you  may  do  it, 
for  God  has  so  revealed  it  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. Else  there  were  no  appropriate- 
ness in  the  exhortation,  "  Quench  not  the 
Spirit!"  (1  Thess.  5:  19.)  Indeed  it 
would  impair  your  moral  freedom — it 
would  utterly  destroy  it — if  you  were  not 
at  liberty  to  comply  with  or  reject  the  per- 
suasions of  any  agent  according  to  your 
pleasure.  It  is  infinitely  important,  there- 
fore, that  you  avoid  the  terrible  conclu- 
sion to  which  a  rejection  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  influences  would  lead  you.  While 
the  aid  of  such  a  powerful  Agent  is  offer- 
ed, I  counsel  you  to  accept  of  the  aid  and 
be  at  peace  with  God. 

You  cannot  too  soon  be  reconciled  to 
God.  There  is  danger  of  quenching  for- 
ever the  influences  of  God's  Spirit — so 
that  He  shall  strive  no  more,  no  more 


94  LETTERS  TO 

persuade  or  excite  the  seared  conscience. 
You  have  already  felt  some  relentings  on 
account  of  sin — the  result  of  the  divine 
Spirit's  agency.  You  have  looked  in  up- 
on your  heart  and  seen  its  deep  depravity 
and  guilt  and  have  been  led  to  feel  that 
you  ought  to  repent  and  exercise  faith  in 
Jesus.  More  than  once  has  your  con- 
science been  awakened  by  the  voice  of 
the  Spirit,  and  it  has  seemed  as  though 
your  soul  would  be  humbled  before  God 
and  that  you  would  accept  his  love.  But 
you  have  not  yet  done  so.  The  heart  re- 
mains unchanged.  The  affections  are 
yet  enchained  to  the  earth.  Oh  !  when 
will  you  prepare  for  heaven  ?  When  will 
you  love  a  dying  Saviour*?  When  will 
you  cease  to  grieve  the  Blessed  Spirit  of 
God  °l  Are  you  not  afraid  of  His  with- 
drawing His  influences  so  that  you  shall 
be  left  barren  and  desolate  *?  Your  duty 
has  been  pointed  out  to  you  in  a  previous 
letter.  It  has  been  proved  that,  even  if 
there  were  no  hope  of  future  felicity — no 
expectation  of  happiness — yet  it  would  be 


A  BROTHER.  95 

your  duty  to  be  sorry  for  having  done 
wrong.  But  now  that  Jesus  has  died  for 
you  to  make  your  penitence  effectual  and 
now  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been  sent  to 
strive  with  you  and  to  urge  you  to  repent- 
ance and  faith,  it  will  be,  indeed,  ungrate- 
ful— it  will  be  amazing — if  you  still  per- 
sist in  unrepented  sin ! 

Many — very  many — have  delayed  to 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  till  it  was  for- 
ever too  late  !  Examples  are  numerous 
where  His  strivings  have  been  silenced, 
and  His  influences  quenched  !  But  Oh, 
how  sad  the  consequences  !  How  fearful 
the  dying  bed !  There  was  a  dreadful — 
freezing — horror-struck  complexion — a 
doleful  crying  for  mercy — which  it  made 
the  heart  ache  to  see  and  to  hear !  Oh  ! 
I  would  not  for  the  universe,  die  the  death 
of  one  from  whom  the  Blessed  Spirit  has 
taken  His  last  departure !  What  dreary 
scenes  are  in  prospect !  And  how  will  eter- 
nity burst  in  all  its  horrors  upon  his  dis- 
tracted and  immortal  soul !  My  dear 
brother,  avoid,  I  beseech  you  such  a  doom 


90  LETTERS  TO  A  BROTHER. 

by  escaping,  as  for  your  life,  to  the  cross 
of  Jesus  whither  the  Holy  Spirit  would 
lead  you.  There  cast  yourself  upon  the 
mercy  of  your  God,  as  exhibited  in  the 
blood  of  atonement,  and  all  may  yet  be 
well! 

Your  affectionate  brother. 


HYMNS. 


HYMNS. 


HYMN    1. 

The  Exhortation. 

1  Turn,  wand'rer,  from  the  dang'rous  path 

Thy  wayward  feet  have  trod ; 
Long  hast  thou  braved  Almighty  wrath, 
Turn  homeward  to  thy  God ! 

2  Turn,  wand'rer,  from  thy  course  of  sin, 

Thy  Saviour  bids  thee  turn  ; 
Sweetly  He  tries  thy  soul  to  win, 
O  try  His  will  to  learn ! 

3  Turn,  for  the  Spirit's  voice  is  heard 

In  whisp'ring  notes  of  love, 
Inviting  thee  to  trust  His  word, 
And  seek  thy  rest  above. 

4  Turn,  for  thy  Father  calls,  "return !" 

Thy  Father  long  forgot ! 
Come  to  His  feet,  and  humbly  mourn 
That  thou  hast  loved  Him  not. 


100  HYMNS. 

5  Turn,  wand'rer,  while  His  mercy  calls, 

Oh,  seek  His  face  to-day ! 
Haste,  'ere  His  sword  of  justice  falls ! 
Oh  sinner,  why  delay  ? 


HYMN    2. 

The   Warning. 

1  To-day  God's  voice  is  heard 
Inviting  thee  to  come, 

And  the  sure  promise  of  His  word 
Declares,  there  yet  is  room. 

2  To-day  the  Saviour  sits 
Upon  His  throne  of  love, 

And  many  a  guilty  wretch  permits 
His  promises  to  prove. 

3  To-day,  salvation's  sure, 

To  those  who  seek  the  Lord, 
And  who  unto  the  end  endure 
Abiding  in  His  word. 

4  But  'ere  to-morrow's  sun 
Shall  send  his  beams  abroad, 

Death  may  his  fatal  work  have  done, 
And  called  thee  to  thy  God ! 


HYMNS.  101 


Then  where,  O  sinner,  where, 
Will  thy  poor  spirit  dwell  ? 
Unrobed  and  desolate  and  drear, 
'T  will  sink,  unsaved,  to  hell ! 


HYMN  3. 

The  Invitation. 

1  Come,  sinner,  in  thy  mis'ry  come  ! 

And  seek  thy  injured  God ! 
He  calls  thee  from  thy  wand'rings  home, 
By  His  atoning  blood ! 

2  Long  hast  thou  lived  without  His  love, 

And  long  abused  His  grace, 

But  Jesus  left  His  throne  above, 

And  took  the  sinner's  place. 

3  How  rich  the  flowing  purple  stream 

That  sealed  His  cov'nant  sure ! 
How  full  His  glorious  pledges  seem — 
Forever  to  endure  ! 

4  Come,  then,  O  sinner,  in  thy  guilt, 

Thy  Saviour  calls  thee,  come  ! 
The  blood,  which  He  on  Calv'ry  spilt, 
He  spilt  to  bring  thee  home. 
9* 


102  HYMNS. 

HYMN  4. 

The  same. 

1  Now,  sinner,  wipe  thy  tears  away, 
And  give  to  God  thy  breaking  heart; 
Come  to  His  footstool,  come  to-day, 
Before  thou  hear'st  the  sound,  depart ! 

2  Hast  thou  not  heard  His  melting  voice, 
Utt'ring  rich  promises  of  love, 
Inviting  thee  to  make  thy  choice, 
And  sweetly  calling  thee  above  ? 

3  O,  listen  to  His  gracious  call, 

Nor  grieve  His  Blessed  Spirit  more ! 
Give  Him  with  cheerfulness  thy  all, 
And  thy  ungrateful  sins  deplore ! 


HYMN   6. 

The  Cross. 

1  Behold  Him,  on  th'  accursed  tree, 

In  anguish  and  in  blood  ! 
He  bore  these  griefs  for  you  and  me, 
To  bring  us  back  to  God ! 


HYMNS.  103 

2  And  wiltthou  yet,  O  sinner,  dare 

The  path  of  guilt  to  tread  ? 
Behold  the  clouds  of  vengeance  there 
That  flash  above  thy  head ! 

3  Haste  thee  to  Calv'ry's  mournful  height, 

'Ere  yet  thy  day  is  past ! 
Speed,  speed,  O  sinner,  for  the  night 
Is  gathering  round  thee  fast ! 

4  There  with  a  full  and  melting  heart, 

Thy  bleeding  Saviour  see ! 
Say  to  thy  sovereign  God,  "I  part 
With  all  things  else  for  Thee ! 

5  Jesus,  Thou  son  of  David,  hear 

My  supplicating  cry ! 
Send  me  a  sweet  release  from  fear, 
And  save  me  when  I  die !" 


HYMN  6. 

Conviction. 

1  Jesus !  hear  my  feeble  prayer, 
Leans  my  helpless  soul  on  Thee ; 
O  my  Saviour !  can'st  Thou  hear, 
Can'st  Thou  save  a  wretch  like  me  ? 


104  HYMNS. 

2  I  approach  thy  awful  seat, 
Doubtful,  anxious  and  oppressed, 
Here  I  lie  before  Thy  feet, 
Broken-hearted  and  distressed ! 

3  Oh  my  soul !  thou  canst  not  live ! 
What  a  Saviour  I've  abused ! 
How  can  He  my  guilt  forgive, 
Who  have  long  his  grace  refused  ? 

4  I  have  heard  His  pleading  voice, 
As  I  passed  along  in  sin, 
Urging  me  to  make  my  choice, 
And  His  service  to  begin. 

5  But  I  spurned  the  call  of  love — 
Trampled  on  His  blood  divine  ! 
Jesus !  can  Thy  pity  move  ? 
Can  Fever  call  Thee  mine  ? 

6  Wretched,  helpless,  tempest-tost, 
Saviour,  to  Thy  arms  I  fly ! 
Thou,  who  cam's t  to  save  the  lost, 
Save,  Oh  save  me  or  I  die  ! 


HYMNS.  105 

HYMN  7. 

The  Release. 

1  Sweetly  from  the  upper  skies 
Breathes  the  soft  and  soothing  strain, 
"Sinner!  wipe  thy  weeping  eyes, 

"  All  thy  sins  by  Me  are  slain ! 

2  "  On  the  cross  in  pain  I  hung 
"To  procure  this  grace  for  thee ! 
"There  with  grief  my  soul  was  wrung, 
"  There  was  filled  with  agony ! 

3  "  Broken-hearted  and  abased, 

"  Thou  hast  cast  thyself  on  Me ; 
"Sinner!  I  my  word  have  passed 
"  From  thy  sins  to  set  thee  free. 

4  "  Rise  and  take  thy  crown  of  joy ! 
"Here  I  breathe  upon  thy  soul, 

"  And  the  judgments  I  employ, 

"  O'er  thy  head  shall  harmless  roll." 

5  Saviour !  why,  O  why1" for  me 

Hast  Thou  shown  such  glowing  love  ? 
Here  I  give  myself  to  Thee, 
Bear,  O  bear  my  thoughts  above ! 


106  HYMNS. 

HYMN  8. 

Christ.  (Selected.) 

1  Oh,  could  I  speak/the  matchless  worth, 
Oh,  could  I  sound  the  glories  forth, 

Which  in  my  Saviour  shine  ! 
I'd  soar,  and  touch  the  heavenly  strings, 
And  vie  with  Gabriel,  while  he  sings, 

In  notes  almost  divine. 

2  I'd  sing  the  precious  blood  he  spilt, 
My  ransom  from  the  dreadful  guilt 

Of  sin  and  wrath  divine: 
I'd  sing  his  glorious  righteousness, 
In  which  all-perfect,  heavenly  dress 

My  soul  shall  ever  shine. 

3  I'd  sing  the  characters  he  bears, 
And  all  the  forms  of  love  he  wears, 

Exalted  on  his  throne : 
In  loftiest  songs  of  sweetest  praise, 
I  would  to  everlasting  days 

Make  all  his  glories  known. 

4  Well — the  delightful  day  will  come, 
When  my  dear  Lord  will  bring  me  home, 

And  I  shall  see  his  face : 
Then,  with  my  Saviour,  brother,  friend, 
A  blest  eternity  I'll,  spend, 

Triumphant  in  his  grace. 


HYMNS.  107 


HYMN   9. 

Heaven.  (Selected.) 

1  Jerusalem !  my  glorious  home ! 

Name  ever  dear  to  me ! 
When  shall  my  labors  have  an  end, 
In  joy,  and  peace,  in  thee  ? 

2  Oh,  when,  thou  city  of  my  God, 

Shall  I  thy  courts  ascend, 
Where  congregations  ne'er  break  up, 
And  Sabbaths  have  no  end ! 

3  There  happier  bowers,  than  Eden's,  bloom, 

No  sin  nor  sorrow  know ; 
Blest  seats !  through  rude  and  stormy  scenes 
I  onward  press  to  you. 

4  Why  should  I  shrink  at  pain  and  woe ! 

Or  feel  at  death  dismay  ? 
I've  Canaan's  goodly  land  in  view, 
And  realms  of  endless  day. 

5  Jerusalem !  my  glorious  home  ! 

My  soul  still  pants  for  thee ; 
Then  shall  my  labors  have  an  end, 
When  I  thy  joys  shall  see. 


106  HYMNS. 

HYMN 

ON  THE  IMMORTALITY  OP  THE  SOUL. 


1  There  is  joy  in  the  thought  that  the  soul  shall  survive 

When  the  clay  that  enfolds  it  expires ; 
That  its  withering  powers,  e'en  in  death,  shall  revive 
And  vigor  and  beauty  immortal,  derive, 

From  the  Spirit  that  kindled  its  fires. 

2  It  brightens  our  path  through  this  valley  of  tears, 

And  scatters  the  clouds  of  despair ; 
The  bosom  of  pain  and  affliction  it  cheers, 
It  lights  up  a  smile  on  the  wrinkles  of  years, 

And  smooths  the  deep  furrows  of  care. 

3  O  pure  are  the  hopes,  it  excites  in  the  breast ; 

And  the  transports  we  feel  shall  increase, 
When  anticipation,  all  glowing,  shall  rest 
On  scenes  that  are  passing  in  realms  of  the  blest — 

On  pleasures  that  never  will  cease. 

4  More  joyous  and  brighter  and  purer  the  ray, 

That  will  burst  on  our  vision  above, 
When  the  veil,  that  obscures  it,  is  taken  away 
And  when  we  can  look  on  the  splendors  of  day, 

In  regions  of  glory  and  love. 


